Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 24/06/06
Label: Atlantic

Love or loathe the likes of James Blunt and David Gray - and by all accounts there are plenty on both sides of that particular divide - at least they provoke a reaction. Maybe Gray's mournful pleading is the sound of a heart laid bare or maybe he's a wobbly headed misery. Maybe "You're Beautiful" really is the most beautiful song, like ever, or maybe James Blunt should ditch the silly voice. Whatever, there's much to fuel a healthy debate. The same, sadly, can't be said of Paolo Nutini.

The 19 year-old from Paisley is the latest to enlist in the Great British singer-songwriter revolution, joining the already minted ranks of Blunt, Gray, Tunstall, Thom (Sandi) and Rice. Yet while the majority of those who have gone before him have cleaned up, Nutini's debut pegs him as more foot soldier than all-conquering hero, and as such, likely to get lost amid all the busker-ready strumming.

Which is frustrating given the promise of single "Last Request". A sweetly soulful break-up song, its desperate tenderness displayed a maturity and voice well beyond his years: the small hours tenderness delivering a warm glow and lump in the throat, while his jaded rasp was that of a forty-a-day survivor from the '60s.

Likewise, the bluesy stomp of album opener "Jenny Don't Be Hasty" comes with a black and white rock'n'roll cool and a tale of loving an older woman, which says that "These Streets" is a classic album in the making. But such down and dirty attitude is in short supply. For "Rewind" Nutini heads to more familiar, glum-but-nice, singer-songwriter territory, by "Million Faces" he's cosy and come "White Lies" he's loitering around mumbled dis-interest. After that it's testing to remember what happens.

Unlike his forebears, Nutini is hard to argue for or against. He's the victim of vagueness. Initial promise aside, his debut is so inoffensive it barely registers. It doesn't rate as bad or good, it's just on in the background and fails to push any of the emotional buttons Nutini is aiming for.

Those early flashes of brilliance prove he can do it. And he's got a phenomenal voice and a rock'n'roll swagger - lifted straight from Razorlight's ever arrogant Johnny Borrell - which point to him potentially being the coolest thing to happen to the world of singer-songerwriters in years. Until he gets it together though, James Blunt can rest easy.

    by Dan Gennoe