Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini [ tickets ] made good use of his time during his frequent flights around the world while touring in support of his debut, "These Streets." It gave him the opportunity to create lyrics for "Sunny Side Up," his sophomore album, which debuted at No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in Ireland.

"I'm always carrying my pads around," Nutini said during a recent phone interview with LiveDaily from San Francisco. "I've always got a pen on hand to jot down something. Planes, I'm on a lot of planes, so they're a good time to get your lyrics together and see what you've been writing down, and look through all your s---."

"These Streets," which spawned the hit "New Shoes," proved an international success, earning the Paisley, Scotland-born troubadour critical praise and worldwide sales in excess of 2 million copies. A charismatic performer, Nutini toured nearly nonstop following the release of "These Streets," headlining countless shows and appearing at some of the world's biggest festivals, including Live Earth, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, and the Isle of Wight Festival 2007--where Paolo dueted with Mick Jagger on "Love In Vain" during The Rolling Stones' festival-closing set.
As Nutini alluded, there really wasn't a songwriting process, per se, for "Sunny Side Up." He took all of his experiences and rolled them into the album.

"We toured for two years, so I had all this stuff that was just kind of stored up in my head," he said. "I also had a lot of pads and a lot of books. February of last year was the first chance I really had to actually reflect on anything that was really going on. I just started writing."

Produced by Nutini and Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams), "Sunny Side Up" sees Nutini continuing to mine his brand of soulful modern pop. It includes the first single, "Candy," which peaked at No. 19 on the UK charts. The video for the song was shot in Cuba under the direction of Nez (Lily Allen, Kano) and is streaming at Nutini's MySpace page. Playing on ska-influenced melodies, the opening track, "10/10," is a departure for Nutini.

"I've been listening to a lot of early reggae, like 2 Tone ska stuff," Nutini said. "It was different for me to try and do it. But it's hard talking about it as if you were going for something because, honestly, I wasn't. We were just recording a lot of stuff. Some of it didn't make the album. But I'm happy with the way it turned out."

Nutini explained it was increasingly frustrating to produce his own album, so he hired Johns to help.

"It wasn't hard as such," Nutini said. "It got a little bit more difficult after a certain stage. Once I got the initial ideas, then I tried to hone in on some of the arrangements and figure out what kind of soundscape that was in my head.

"I got up to a certain stage where I thought I was getting a bit frustrated. It was more that I felt I was falling short in a few areas so I got in touch with Ethan Johns, who then mixed the record and added some production. We sort of tried some things and stuck with some of them, and went back to the way they were in certain parts. It was an interesting trip."

Nutini recorded the album at Grouse Lodge in Westmeath, Ireland, as well as Rockfield Studios in Wales and Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Bath, England.

"I found Grouse Lodge, for me, was the place that seemed to work the best," Nutini said. "The sound in the room and just the vibe for me, that was the most inspirational place for me."

The upbeat attitude of the recording process led to the title of the album, "Sunny Side Up."

"I starts with '10/10,' which is a pretty bright track, positive, upbeat all the way through," Nutini said. "Then there are other contrasting tracks where we're dealing with times that are a little bit more desperate, a little bit more confused, and maybe confessional. Then after I listened to the songs of the album, I realized that even the down moments had the light at the end. For me, it's trying to convey a positivity through the record. It just felt right to be honest."