Sunny Side Up is the second studio album by Scottish singer and songwriter Paolo Nutini, released on 29 May 2009 in Ireland and 1 June 2009 in the United Kingdom.Paolo Nutini: New album previews exclusively here", Irish Independent, 28 May 2009Schmidt, Veronica (2009) "Paolo Nutini returns with Sunny Side Up", The Times, 7 May 2009 Nutini and his band, the Vipers, embarked on a brief tour of the United States before a UK tour leading up to the album's release.Hall, Tara (2009) "Paolo Nutini brings 'Sunny Side' to West Coast ", LiveDaily, 3 April 2009Hall, Tara (2009) "Paolo Nutini returns with 'Sunny Side Up' ", LiveDaily, 30 April 2009 The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. Nutini self-recorded the album with his band the Vipers, while Ethan Johns contributed to the mixing and production. Notably, the album includes guest appearances from trombonist Rico Rodriguez and Questlove.

The album was the eighth best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2009 and the sixth best-selling album in 2010. On 3 January 2010, Sunny Side Up topped the UK Albums Chart for a second time, making it the first number-one album in the United Kingdom in 2010 and the entire decade.

On 19 February 2010, Colin Farrell presented Nutini with "Best International Album" for Sunny Side Up at the 2010 Meteor Awards. On 20 May 2010, Sunny Side Up won Best Album at the Ivor Novello Awards. The album was nominated for MasterCard British Album at the 2010 BRIT Awards.

Singles The first single from the album was "Candy", which reached No. 19 on the UK Singles Charts. The song is Nutini's third highest peak to date, after "Last Request" and "Pencil Full of Lead" (see below). The second single was "Coming Up Easy", reaching No. 62 on the UK Singles Chart. The song became his lowest charting single to date, spending just one week within the top 75.

The third single to be released was "Pencil Full of Lead". The song was released on 2 November 2009 and peaked at No. 17 on the UK Singles Charts. It is his second highest chart success and the biggest hit single from Sunny Side Up, spending 21 weeks inside the top 75. The fourth single from the album was "10/10". The song was released on 11 January 2010 as a digital download only single.Paolo Nutini – 10/10 Once "10/10" was released, the song debuted at No. 100 on the UK Singles Charts, peaking at #51. It spent a total of six weeks inside the top 75.

Critical reception

The album received a generally favourable critical reception. AllMusic's Thom Jurek noted the move away from the sound of These Streets: "Nutini has taken huge chunks of America's (and Scotland's) pop and folk pasts and reshaped them in his own image," going on to describe it as "wise beyond this songwriter's years".Jurek, Thom "Sunny Side Up Review", AllMusic, Macrovision Corporation Andy Gill of The Independent commented on Nutini's progress since his debut, saying the album "sees the singer making giant strides in several directions", and going on to say "don't be surprised if, come December, this is one of the year's biggest-selling albums." Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph was also positive, stating "his joyous second album organically blends soul, country, folk and the brash, horny energy of ragtime swing."

Some reviewers were less impressed. It was described by The Guardian'''s Caroline Sullivan as "not bad", with opening track "10/10" described as "jaunty enough to make you retch". Graeme Thomson of The Observer saw the album as an attempt by Nutini at "rebranding himself as a mongrel hybrid of John Martyn, Otis Redding and Bob Marley".

Commercial performance The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with sales of over 60,000 copies, fighting off strong competition from Love & War'', the debut album of fellow male solo artist Daniel Merriweather. The album performed similarly well on the Irish Albums Chart, debuting at number two behind Eminem's new album before rising to the top of the charts the week after.

Track listing

Personnel Paolo Nutini – vocals, backing vocals, drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, piano Donny Little – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, backing vocals Mike McDaid – bass guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes, backing vocals Dave Nelson – acoustic guitar, percussion, backing vocals Seamus Simon – drums, percussion Gavin Fitzjohn – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, trumpet, flugelhorn Rico Rodriguez – trombone Questlove – drums James Poyser – piano Ethan Johns – Hammond organ, celesta, mandolin, mellotron, omnichord, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, ukulele, Dobro, mandocello, bass guitar, baritone guitar, optigan, percussion Matt Benbrook – bass guitar Phil Cunningham – accordion, tin whistle Simon Farrell – double bass Steve Bentley Klein, Andrew Maddick – violin Fiona Leggat – viola Emma Wallace – cello Malcolm Stevenson – backing vocals Derek Green – backing vocals Andy Gaine – backing vocals Lance Ellington – backing vocals Ricci P. Washington – backing vocals Miguan A. Green – backing vocals Fraser Speirs - harmonicas

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Sunny Side Up Chart (2009) PeakpositionCanadian Albums (Billboard) 19European Top 100 Albums (Billboard) 4Irish Albums (IRMA) 1US Billboard 20057

Year-end charts + 2009 year-end chart performance for Sunny Side Up Chart (2009) PositionEuropean Top 100 Albums (Billboard)40French Albums (SNEP)191Irish Albums (IRMA) 9Italian Albums (FIMI)87Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)52UK Albums (OCC)8 + 2010 year-end chart performance for Sunny Side Up Chart (2010) PositionEuropean Top 100 Albums (Billboard)17Irish Albums (IRMA)8UK Albums (OCC)6

Decade-end charts + Decade-end chart performance for Sunny Side Up Chart (2010–2019) PositionUK Albums (OCC) 40

Certifications

References