Paolo Nutini's rise from Paisley chip shop hand to multi-platinum recording artist is the stuff of pop fantasy commonly seen in the world of TV talent shows. But with a persona and voice just frayed enough at the edges to believe, and songwriting of growing sophistication – as underscored by his third album, Caustic Love, the fastest-selling record of 2014 so far – the Scottish songwriter seems increasingly like the real deal.
An excellent eight-piece band behind him doing the legwork, Nutini doesn't even have to move much to elicit hormonal roars – merely draping himself on the mic stand, crooning eyes half-shut, does the trick. His Celtic rasp of a voice rarely goes anywhere countless young soul-pop pretenders haven't been before him, but possesses an unvarnished, slightly unhinged quality all of its own. A horndog R&B number referencing "smoking my green", Scream (Funk My Life Up) casts Nutini as the lovable rogue. When he juxtaposes that with Better Man, a song about being humbled by a good woman, then dedicates Looking for Something to his mother, the women of Edinburgh scream like they want him served double-wrapped in newspaper and home while still hot.
The sheer range of the set's second half is impressive. A take on Recover by fellow Scots Chvrches precedes the Al Green-indebted One Day, sung as lights bathe the stage an appropriate shade of emerald. Then everything goes a bit 80s raincoat brigade with the Echo and the Bunnymen-channelling Cherry Blossom and a version of Pencil Full of Lead, the latter smartly retooled to swap naff Junglebook swing stylings for stadium-era Simple Minds synths.
During pocket epic Iron Sky, the housewives'-favourite acoustic balladeer of Nutini's teenage years couldn't feel further away, but makes a cameo at the close for a solo encore of debut single Last Request. As previously doubting punters rush back in from the foyer with their camera phones out and help bawl the song at the Usher Hall's high ceiling, Nutini's practically an accessory to his own sing-along.
• In Bridlington on 28 May. Box office: 01262 678258. Venue: The Spa Bridlington.
