Paolo Nutini - Last Night in the Bittersweet

  by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 31 / 7 / 2022

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Review

Paolo Nutini has always moved at a leisurely pace! His new album, ‘Last Night In The Bittersweet’ is his first in over eight years. And in many ways the Glaswegian singer is a rarity – a pop star apparently devoid of ego! His third album ‘Caustic Love’ topped the charts back in 2014 and, although he has apparently written many scores of songs subsequently, Nutini has opted to keep these to himself. Indeed his indifference to fame and fortune has caused some to wonder if he's in danger of squandering his prodigious talent! Now 35, Nutini has ground to make up - for some of his more motivated peers have been carving out lucrative careers since 2014! George Ezra has released three albums in that time whilst Ed Sheeran has released four and achieved dizzying heights of international success! But Nutini is hugely talented too – and he does seem to have really worked hard on his new comeback album. There are his usual blue-eyed soul ballads but also tub-thumping industrial rock plus humming electronics, too. The album dispels any notion that Nutini simply wants to be a pop pin-up. Opener ‘Afterneath’ is a riot of crashing cymbals and howled vocals but ‘Radio’ a gentler rocker and ‘Through The Echoes’ is a nice, tender ballad. ‘Petrified In Love’ is a catchy Cure-like indie-pop number whilst ‘Abigail’ is a lovely Johnny Cash-style country ballad. There's a lot of variety on this album which is admirable. And, towards the end, there are several beautifully-crafted ballads, some acoustic with others building into grand orchestrations. Somehow, as ‘Last Night In The Bittersweet’ concludes, it seems to have real coherence. A real achievement and a welcome, if overdue, return for Paolo Nutini!

Track Listing:-

1 Afterneath
2 Radio
3 Through The Echoes
4 Acid Eyes
5 Stranded Words (Interlude)
6 Lose It
7 Petrified In Love
8 Everywhere
9 Abigail
10 Children of the Stars
11 Heart Filled Up
12 Shine A Light
13 Desperation
14 Julianne
15 Take Me Take Mine
16 Writer

Band Links:-

https://www.paolonutini.com/
https://www.facebook.com/PaoloNutini
https://twitter.com/PaoloNutin

Play in YouTube:-

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