SPORTING his shaggiest hairdo to date, and a blissed-out smile that could stretch from Kinross to Paisley, Paolo Nutini sauntered on to the T Break stage at teatime last night to a roar of approval you would be hard-pushed to beat this side of the Fratellis inviting everyone back to there's.
Introducing a selection of new songs, Nutini - in a crumpled white shirt and red waistcoat - perched himself on a stool centre stage and ripped into the impromptu set with relish. In a tent which usually showcases young Scottish bands just about to b
reak, it was clear to all that this was something very special. Unsurprisingly, the aroma wafting through the crammed tent was of an appropriately laid back concotion.
Regardless of his clearly loyal audience, Nutini was sounding sharper, brighter and arguably more interesting than he ever has. The new songs boasted his familiar old-soul take on life, but many of them started stripped back only to build to an almost euphoric peak. This is a young Scottish singer-songwriter clearly freshened by time back in the studio, and having a ball.
Ranging from steam train rythyms to jazzy, Mupppets-esque sounds, Nutini was moved to get up off his stool and jive around the stage with band members at one point. Launching in to a cover version of Johnny Cash's 'I've Been Everywhere', Nutini traded the orginal lyrics: "I was totin' my pack along the long dusty Winnamucka road", to "I was dragging my feet along St Vincent Street", in a gesture which played right in to the Balado crowd's lap. "That was a lot of words," he said sheepishly afterwards. But the quiet man of Scottish rock had let his singing do the talking, and it was a declaration of intent worth paying attention to.
The full article contains 308 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
