Release Date: Jun 2, 2009
Record label: Atlantic
Genre(s): Rock, Singer-Songwriter
If he's not quite the "mesmerising, soulful voice that has no equal" that his record label modestly claims, Paolo Nutini does have a bit of gravel in his vocal chords, and an engaging way of putting a tune across. On his second album, he has taken a chance by steering away from the declawed R&B that got him filed alongside fellow pretty boy James Morrison, and gives reggae and Celtic folk a whirl. It's not bad.
Paolo Nutini tends to get lumped in with the James Morrisons and Blunts of this world, dismissed as a dispenser of tuneful semi-acoustic fare and solid, join-the-dots soul. Worthy. Rather dull. The evidence on his second album suggests he isn't terribly thrilled about this - who would be? - and instead fancies rebranding himself as a mongrel hybrid of John Martyn, Otis Redding and Bob Marley.