Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini is fully embracing the sound of vintage soul on his third studio album, but it's still his voice that sets him apart
PAOLO NUTINI/ CAUSTIC LOVE
Before the world saw the new crop of guitar-toting male singer-songwriters, including Jake Bugg, Tom Odell and George Ezra, there had already been a handful of post-millennial troubadours such as James Blunt, James Morrison and Paolo Nutini. Now most of us are probably familiar with both Jameses (more so with Blunt, whose plaintive single You're Beautiful can still be heard, albeit in the bossa nova reincarnation, in most local cafes today). Nutini, on the other hand, is a less well-known figure here even though he has been churning out songs that were just as good — if not better.
One of those tracks was Last Request, the first single from his 2006 debut LP, These Streets. The album, released when Nutini was just 19, spawned a string of successful singles including Jenny Don't Be Hasty, Rewind and New Shoes; and it helped put his name and his disarmingly raspy vocals on the map in the UK. His ska-inflected follow-up, 2009's Sunny Side Up, performed even better, and went on to be nominated for Best British Album at the 2010 Brit Awards.
Five years have passed since then, and in that time Blunt had emerged from his short-lived retirement and adopted the trendy folk-pop sound with his fourth album Moon Landing last year, while Morrison released his third, The Awakening, two years earlier. But none of those records would prepare anyone for what was to come from Nutini. Here at last with his long-awaited new album, Caustic Love, the 27-yeard-old Scottish singer-songwriter is more comfortable going retro than he's ever been, and yes, he's wearing it better than any of his peers.
Singularly inspired by retro funk and vintage soul, Nutini's latest offering contains a series of well-constructed songs sung with an undeniable conviction and passion. First single Scream (Funk My Life Up), is right on the button with its swaggering funk-soul goodness. "She gets me sinning, she's like a trick on me/Hell, I don't even know her name but yet she sticks to me," Nutini growls. The duet Let Me Down Easy follows suit, serving up a slice of vintage soul sampled from Bettye LaVette's 1965 classic of the same name.
Elsewhere there are a couple of outstanding slow burners in One Day and Iron Sky. On the former Nutini sounds as if he was channelling the late soul songstress Amy Winehouse, which is a nice surprise. Also commendable are the love-struck acoustic Better Man and Diana with its after-hours jazzy swirls. For the most part, Caustic Love is a wonderfully coherent album that doesn't just come across as a throwback project. Nutini is clearly living and thriving in his own authentic blend of '60s soul, funk, blues, country and folk. And even when all else fails, such as those weak moments on Fashion (featuring Janelle Monae) and interludes such as Bus Talk and Superfly, Nutini's captivating vocals well and truly save the day.
THE PLAYLIST
Tabasco/ What’s Going On
Thailand’s bona fide indie label Rats Records is cooking up something good in the form of its side project Rats X, and Tabasco’s What’s Going On gives us a pretty good impression of what else is to come. Fusing prickly guitar riffs with lush electro-synth melodies, the song listens like a wholesome meld between bands like Two Door Cinema Club and Cut Copy. The vocals here tend to get lost in the production, but kudos to them for singing in English.
Zero 7/ Simple Science
We mentioned British electronica duo Zero 7 in our review of Sia’s 1000 Forms of Fear last week (to recap: Sia provided her guest vocals on a few of their tracks including the blissed-out classic Destiny ), and now the pair are putting out new music. Made up of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker, the duo give us a taster of their upcoming four-track EP, Simple Science , and we must say we’re glad they’re back. Featuring Australian vocalist Danny Pratt, the track finds Binns and Hardaker eschewing their trademark downtempo aesthetics and embracing dancefloor-ready nu-house with stuttering hi-hats and swirling arpeggiated synths.
Death From Above 1979/ Trainwreck 1979
Canadian dance-punk duo Death From Above 1979 are finally releasing their second studio album following split and their seminal debut, You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine , released a decade ago. The first track from the long-awaited album, Trainwreck 1979 is quintessential DFA 1979, meshing together pummelling drums, punchy bass and melodic pop hooks. The production is miles away from being a trainwreck, and is definitely worth the 10-year wait. Fans of the pair better mark their calendars because their new album, The Physical World , is due out early next month.
Usher (featuring Nicki Minaj)/ She Came to Give It to You
The R&B crooner channels a little bit of the late King of Pop on his Nicki Minaj-assisted new single She Came to Give it to You. The song follows the first single Good Kisser from Usher’s upcoming yet-to-be-titled eighth studio album, and is produced by industry golden boy Pharrell Williams. As such, there’s a strong funk-disco influence that rides on a groovy, addictive bassline. Usher’s falsetto here is as reliable as ever, and Nicki’s verses are full of her usual sass (“And tell your man play the back like a spine/He only lasts six seconds like a Vine.”)
Lenny Kravitz/ The Chamber
Funky, retro-tinted basslines seem to be de rigueur in today’s music, and Lenny Kravitz’s latest cut The Chamber sure makes the best use of them. “You killed the love that was once so strong/With no regret to what you did wrong/Should I stay and fight? Can we make this right?” the Grammy-winning artist implores in the opening verses of the first single from his 10th studio album Strut . The song has that late-’80s/early-’90s rock feel to it, especially with the spoken word lyrics towards the end.
