Paolo Nutini

Olympia, Dublin:The pantheon of unconventional heartthrobs has a new poster boy, and it is none other than Paolo Nutini. The diminutive Scot with the eclectic musical palette and gravelly, wise-beyond-his-years voice attracted an overwhelmingly female audience to this sold-out show, and had them swooning at every flick of his floppy hair and wriggle of his wrist – think Justin Timberlake with less dancing and more Scottish folk.

Nutini has found such pervasive success that you could be mistaken for thinking he has been a mainstay of the music scene for years, but despite that voice, he is only 22 and his popularity is on the back of just two albums, These Streetsfrom 2006 and this year's massively popular Sunny Side Up.

There is, however, a perplexing element to his success – his wilful jumbling of genres could be a demonstration of impressive range, or it could be seen as a mere impersonation of the greats of soul, reggae, bluegrass, folk and jazzy pop, from the sound to the accents to the mannerisms. Nutini’s great achievement, however, is making what could be a bafflingly inconsistent set into an immensely likeable, and coherent, show.

With his impressive and exuberant band behind him, including a three-piece horn section, he raced through the first few, reggae-tinged numbers while bent double over the microphone. At first it seemed his posture was due to his uncomfortably tight-looking jeans, but as the night wore on he gradually straightened, as if mimicking the evolution of homo sapiens.

His folk numbers were charming interludes in a rollicking night, and while his own compositions don't match the accomplished Scottish folk songs of James Yorkston or King Creosote, it was heartening to hear a crowd sing along to tracks such as It Takes a Worried Man.

Sure, he’s a jack of all trades. But if he keeps putting on shows as enjoyable as this, he’ll keep the doubters dancing.