Paolo's new record, Sunny Side Up, is a very great cd. He takes more risk by co-producing it. The album has a much more folk focus, and you can tell how natural it is for him. It sounds much more from the heart. When Paolo talks about his influences, being soul and folk, and when you can hear it on the debut album "These Streets", it isn't as strong. It starts out with a love ballad "10/10". You can hear the jazz and sax influence from the beginning. In "Coming Up Easy" is talking about his parents and his dream to be as happy as they are. "Growing Up Beside You" is one of the most folky tracks on the record. One can hear the reverberations of the 50's and 60's artists of Peter, Paul and Mary and Joan Baez. One about growing up at 22. He seems to produce songs that seem to pass his age. "Candy" is his single, and it's about giving a little bit of love before he must go away. Very different from the bore of Top 40 radio. One of my favorite things about this album, that's different from his previous is that his charismatic accent being heard. It seems to be toned down in These Streets. Girls, who are his main demographic, love accents. He is not being safe and sticking to the pop norm. I applaud. "Tricks of the Trade" is about some things he learned while being away from his home in Paisley, Scotland. "Pencil Full of Lead" is next, and one of my favorite tracks. I was reading the inset of lyrics and I could tell what the beat was like, and loved it. It talks about how grateful he is and how he has everything he needs. The song also has this old jazz and vaudeville feel to it. Flappers dancing seem to fit right in. He then transitions to an old-school soul ballad, "No Other Way", about travelling and being away from his love, and seeing her again. In this modern folk song "High Hopes", discusses the idea of how the world has been decreasing slowly and his hopes for a better future. Truly about our predicament in this world, and I love the lyrics (Give me something to believe in, give me something to believe). "Chamber Music" sounds like an old throwback to the folk that he's inspired by, his voice drops and has a very simple instruments. Never a bad thing. The Bob Dylanesque "Simple Things", is a song all about his dad that he loves dearly. Thoreau would be proud. "Worried Man" appears to be a nod at Neil Young, with similar reflections as in "Needle and the Damage Done" and "Old Man". The album ends with a song about going away, "Rolling On" as if to just row on a quiet, still river lost in oblivion and in the trance of peaceful music. Overall, a refreshing range for Paolo, and creates many new opportunities and discoveries that he can pursue, and doing it with flying colors. I give it 4 stars.
