Hungry hands turning soft and old

Continuing my trip back through the 2006 album charts.

30/07/06 : These Streets - Paolo Nutini

Our third visit with Paolo and we're still yet to get to the album I know and like (Caustic Love) - with the previous visits being both similar and different.  So I'm expecting something similar and different again.

Actually, this is the closest to Caustic Love so far.  I actually knew and liked "Last Request" - I'd just forgotten about it.  I also liked "New Shoes", which bops along nicely and "Autumn", which is a nice languid change of pace.  It manages to be both retro and contemporary but overall, it's maybe not quite as immediate as I'd like - I suspect multiple relistens would reward the effort, but that's just not going to happen I'm afraid.

We're at #5 in the charts this week on his second week of a 72 week run (really?), having peaked at #3 in its debut week.  It's managed eight more runs (including 20 and 46 week stints) over the years adding another 105 weeks, with it last being seen in '14 - this is far and away his most successful album.  The rest of the top five are Razorlight, Snow Patrol, Lily Allen and The Kooks and the highest new entry is Pharrell Williams at #7.

Wikipedia doesn't have an awful lot on the album - it tells me a lot of it is about relationship breakdowns, which you'd have to say 19 year old Paolo sings about with wisdom beyond his years.  The critics were mostly nice enough about it - the comment that it "won't blow anyone away with its creativeness or ingenuity, but it's done well and it's direct and open and enjoyable to listen to, which is more than enough" seems fair enough to me.  It did better globally than I (and probably Paolo) expected - top 30 across most of Europe, #48 in the US and #24 in the UK year-end chart.

"Customers also listened to" Newton Faulkner, James Morrison and Fyfe Dangerfield - I've never heard of Fyfe but that's quite the name.  Paolo is definitely towards the top of the 21st century male singer-songerwriter list for me but this album just didn't quite hit the spot on first listen, I'm afraid (in the way that James Morrison's offering did).  However, there are far worse things you could have been listening to in this year, so if this sort of thing is your bag and you don't know it then check it out...

23/07/06 - Peak Muse?
06/08/06 - Harmless but pointless

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