Last Night in the Bittersweet

Last Night in the Bittersweet is the fourth studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini, released on 1 July 2022 by Atlantic Records. Two songs from the album, "Through the Echoes" and "Lose It", were jointly released on 11 May 2022. Last Night in the Bittersweet is Nutini's first release in eight years, following his third studio album, Caustic Love (2014).[1][2]

Last Night in the Bittersweet
Studio album by
Released1 July 2022 (2022-07-01)
Length72:07
LabelAtlantic
Producer
  • Paolo Nutini
  • Gavin Fitzjohn
  • Dani Castelar
Paolo Nutini chronology
Caustic Love
(2014)
Last Night in the Bittersweet
(2022)
Singles from Last Night in the Bittersweet
  1. "Through the Echoes"
    Released: 11 May 2022
  2. "Lose It"
    Released: 11 May 2022
  3. "Shine a Light"
    Released: 1 June 2022
  4. "Acid Eyes"
    Released: 22 June 2022
  5. "Petrified in Love"
    Released: 22 June 2022

Critical reception

edit
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic87/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [4]
The Arts Desk     [5]
Clash8/10[6]
Evening Standard     [7]
The Irish Times     [8]
The Skinny     [9]
The Times     [10]

Last Night in Bittersweet received a score of 87 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic from four critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[3] Writing in Mojo, John Aizelwood gave this release 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "worth wallowing in".[11]

Commercial performance

edit

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart dated 8 July 2022, and by midweek, was outselling the album at number two by a ratio of 4:1.[12] It is Nutini's third consecutive UK number-one album.[13]

Track listing

edit
Last Night in the Bittersweet track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Afterneath"
4:05
2."Radio"
  • Nutini
  • Matty Benbrook
4:22
3."Through the Echoes"Nutini3:41
4."Acid Eyes"
  • Nutini
  • Dani Castelar
4:33
5."Stranded Words" (interlude)2:31
6."Lose It"
  • Nutini
  • Gavin Fitzjohn
5:30
7."Petrified in Love"
  • Nutini
  • Fitzjohn
3:53
8."Everywhere"Nutini5:51
9."Abigail"Nutini3:50
10."Children of the Stars"Nutini3:20
11."Heart Filled Up"Nutini5:17
12."Shine a Light"
  • Nutini
  • Thomas Seamus Simon
5:56
13."Desperation"Nutini3:35
14."Julianne"Nutini4:51
15."Take Me Take Mine"Nutini6:51
16."Writer"Nutini4:01
Total length:72:07

Personnel

edit

Musicians

  • Paolo Nutini – vocals (all tracks), bass guitar (3, 4, 6, 7, 12), acoustic guitar (3, 9, 11–13, 15), piano (3), synthesizer (4, 6, 8, 12, 15), organ (9), electric guitar (10)
  • Gavin Fitzjohn – electric guitar (1, 3, 4, 6–15), bass guitar (1); flugelhorn, saxophone (2); organ (3, 7, 8), acoustic guitar (4, 10, 15), programming (6), percussion (8, 10), piano (11, 15), synthesizer (12, 13)
  • John Blease – drums (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10–12, 14, 15), percussion (8, 10)
  • Jordi Fuster – electric guitar (1, 4, 7, 8, 10–12), acoustic guitar (12)
  • Dani Castelar – programming (1, 3–15), skit (2), electric guitar (4), synthesizer (6)
  • Donato di Trapani – synthesizer (1, 11, 12, 14), Hammond organ (10), piano (14)
  • Dave Nelson – acoustic guitar, electric guitar (2)
  • Matty Benbrook – drums, synthesizer (2)
  • Pat Noodle – Mellotron (3)
  • Tom Herbert – bass guitar (4, 5, 7–9, 11, 12, 15)
  • Damon Reece – drums (6)
  • Gerard Ballester – drums (8)
  • Tom Pinder – trombone (8)
  • Michael Mcdaid – acoustic guitar (9); backing vocals, bass guitar (10); electric guitar (14)
  • Joe Glossop – Hammond organ (10), organ (15)
  • Daniel Forouhar – twelve-string guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar (13)
  • Scott Anderson – drums (13)
  • Peter Riley – electric guitar (13)
  • The Frying Salsiccia Brothers – backing vocals (14)
  • Rob Moose – strings (14)

Technical

  • Paolo Nutini – production
  • Dani Castelar – production (all tracks), mixing (3, 5, 11, 12), engineering (1–15)
  • Gavin Fitzjohn – production (all tracks), engineering (3, 4, 8)
  • Matt Coltonmastering
  • Paul Savage – mixing (1, 2, 6–10, 13)
  • Richard Woodcraft – mixing (4, 14–16), engineering (3–5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16), additional production (12, 15, 16)
  • Joe Jones – engineering (1, 10), engineering assistance (7)
  • Rhys Evans – engineering (4)
  • Kevin Burleigh – engineering (13)

Artwork

  • Alex Cowper – design
  • David Sanden – design
  • Reuben Sutherland – design
  • Shamil Tanna – photography
  • Paolo Nutini – cover art concept, back cover photo

Charts

edit

Certifications

edit
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Gold 100,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

edit
  1. ^ Moore, Sam (12 May 2022). "Paolo Nutini announces new album 'Last Night In The Bittersweet' and shares two new songs". NME. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  2. ^ Swingle, Emily (12 May 2022). "Paolo Nutini Launches New Album 'Last Night In The Bittersweet'". Clash. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Last Night in the Bittersweet by Paolo Nutini Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  4. ^ Collar, Matt (28 June 2022). "Paolo Nutini - Last Night in the Bittersweet". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  5. ^ Oddy, Guy (28 June 2022). "Album: Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  6. ^ McDonald, Sophia (1 July 2022). "Paolo Nutini – Last Night In The Bittersweet | Reviews". Clash. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  7. ^ Smyth, David (1 July 2022). "Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet review: Refusing to play by the rules". Evening Standard. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  8. ^ Murphy, Lauren (1 July 2022). "Paolo Nutini: Last Night in the Bittersweet — A more grown-up approach". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  9. ^ Wilde, Jamie (29 June 2022). "Paolo Nutini review: Last Night in the Bittersweet". The Skinny. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  10. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (1 July 2022). "Paolo Nutini: Last Night in the Bittersweet review — a serious musical talent tackles the big themes". The Times. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  11. ^ Aizelwood, John (August 2022). Bulley, Jenny (ed.). "Filter Albums". Mojo Filter. Mojo. No. 341. p. 90. ISSN 1351-0193.
  12. ^ Smith, Carl (4 July 2022). "Paolo Nutini's Last Night in the Bittersweet set for Number 1 album, with new entries from Shinedown, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro and more". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  13. ^ Smith, Carl (4 July 2022). "Paolo Nutini's Last Night in the Bittersweet reaches Number 1 on Official Albums Chart with new entries from Shinedown, UB40 and more". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  14. ^ a b "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 11 July 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1688. Australian Recording Industry Association. 11 July 2022. pp. 7, 10.
  15. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2022. 27. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  21. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  22. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 27 (dal 01.07.2022 al 07.07.2022)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  26. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2022". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  27. ^ "British album certifications – Paolo Nutini – Last Night In The Bittersweet". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 August 2023.