Paolo Nutini at Eden Sessions 2024 review: Scottish sensation stuns with effortlessly cool set

Bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s with his first and poppiest album, few would have imagined that 19-year-old Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini would go on to become the effortlessly cool indie-rock powerhouse he is today.

It's fair to say he's come a long way from his New Shoes days but now, at 37, Paolo Nutini has absolutely honed his craft - and luckily for long-serving fans (unlike some artists with careers spanning almost two-decades) appears just as happy playing the crowd-pleasing tracks that made his name, something the Eden Sessions crowd delighted in during the star's Wednesday night (June 19) performance.

Taking to the Eden Sessions stage for the fourth time, Nutini peppered his set with sing-along classics, while playing a handful of edgy beats from his 2022 album, Last Night In The Bittersweet, a genre-defying epic that spans classic rock, post-punk and the experimental German rock of kosmische music.

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Opening with Afterneath from the aforementioned album, which actually features a writing credit to filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, thanks to its seductive sampled discourse from 1993 movie True Romance, allowed Nutini and the band to ease into the set, teasing unparalleled vocals with hauntingly beautiful howls, which took me back to watching The Who at Eden last summer. Of course, Nutini is no stranger to weaving the spoken word throughout his music for dramatic effect, with Iron Sky, one of his most powerful hits, famously featuring Charlie Chaplin's impassioned 1940 speech, The Great Dictator.

After picking up the pace with his sexy 2014 track Scream (Funk My Life Up), Nutini threw a delightfully charming curveball, in the form of his upbeat rendition of Stuck in the Middle with You, paying tribute to its Scottish writers.

Acid Eyes and Through the Echoes followed, and were even more evocative thanks to the atmospheric surroundings of the Eden Sessions stage. New Shoes was an undisputed crowd-pleaser, giving onlookers the chance to flex their vocal chords, to the most charmingly intoxicating result. Though thanks to some clever tinkering in the years since its initial release, the 2006 hit came off cooler and edgier than ever.

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Having been revelling in anticipation for the whole evening for my favourite track, Iron Sky, I had one of the rare gig experiences where another song became my favourite of the night. Not that Iron Sky wasn't the passionate, moving performance I expected it to be, but it was actually the vulnerability of Candy that left me with a lump in my throat and was what I found myself humming all the way home.

My only gripe with the evening was that a few of my favourite older tracks were absent from the setlist, Better Man, Jenny Don't Be Hasty and Last Request to name a few, but I appreciate with such a stellar back-catalogue of hits, not all can make it. And for those who questioned Nutini's spot on this year's Eden Sessions line-up (like I said this was his fourth appearance) - just don't. With a sell-out spectacular of a show like the one he put on last night, it's clear this star has plenty left to give, with fans from far and wide happy to travel for the experience.

Special mention to his support Prima Queen, all-female indie/alternative rock band fronted by song-writing duo and best friends Louise Macphail (Bristol) and Kristin McFadden (Chicago, USA). Being fairly fresh on the scene, they had their work cut out warming up the crowd, most of whom were respectfully just waiting for the main event, but did a great job with amusing anecdotes and catchy songs.

Still to play at this year’s Eden Sessions are: Suede and Manic Street Preachers, June 29; The National plus special guests This Is The Kit, July 2; Rick Astley plus special guests The Lightning Seeds, July 3; Tom Grennan, July 5; JLS plus special guest Tinchy Stryder, July 12.

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