Colbie Caillat Album: “Coco: Summer Sessions [Digipak]”

I listened to the free single of the week, Bubbly I received through iTunes and liked it. Went and listened to samples of the other songs on the album and immediately knew I had to have the entire album.

Saw reviews that called her the female Jack Johnson. I find I like Coco better than any Johnson album I've heard. While he as a few strong hits, he has a lot of songs I find myself bored with and forwarding through. I don't have the desire to forward through any of the songs on Coco. Consistenly good and very listenable. Give this one a try.

I've followed Colbie's budding career via MySpace this past year, watching with great interest how she became the # 1 unsigned artist on that site, was put under pro management, then was signed to a major label, and now sees her debut record launch, complete with offical website where one can buy Colbie T-shirts, stickers, etc. It's a study in how you can make the public believe that an artist has come from virtually nowhere when in fact her rise has been pretty carefully planned out. Nothing wrong with career planning, but please, marketing/PR people, don't make it look like something it's not.

Her dad Ken Caillat helped produce this CD - he just happens to be the guy who helped produce one of the alltime bestselling albums: Fleetwood Mac's classic "Rumours" as well as other F. Mac albums. So I'm guessing he's got a pretty neat Rolodex of friends in the record biz if ya get my drift.

Having said that - before I get accused of being utterly unfair: Colbie does have talent - she has a sweet mellow voice, albeit not one that stands out from many other female singers in the acoustic folk/soul vein. She does seem genuinely nice and unpretentious - big bonus points for that in a biz where there are far too many divas.

For the past year, several songs from what is now her debut album "Coco" (her nickname) could be heard on her My Space page. "Bubbly" became the big hit - "the single" as it is known in the industry. "Battle" was always my personal favorite and I still think it's by far the stand-out in the batch of 12 tracks. "The Little Things" and "Magic" have been big faves with her My Space fans as well and they are sweet tunes which wisely put Colbie's sunny voice in the spotlight. (according to her bio, the born and bred CA beach girl grew up in Malibu and has often vacationed in Hawaii - sounds kinda like the TV character Hannah Montana!).

Whoever have been the caretakers of her My Space page this past year or two chose to tease the growing fanbase to the point where it was borderline sadistic. Everyone would desperately ask in the comment space on her page "When is your album coming out??!!" and yet it was not until this month that it was finally released. This strategy could have easily backfired: her fans are overwhelmingly teenage girls and twentysomething women and like most young 21st century consumers, they will often loose patience and move on to the the next "hot" thing. However, her fans have proved to be loyal so far - the result is that "Bubbly" shot to the top of iTunes this week and the album followed suit. Her My Space page gets about 50.000 plays - a day - and her total is past 10 million, going back to 2005.

One very unfair practice on My Space is that of so-called "auto bots" which is software that enables a My Space user to automatically "add" friends to their page, which is clearly cheating and officially not allowed on the site, but is becoming more and more common. Reading the comments on Colbie's page, it appears that autobots were used. However, it is also well-known that teenage girls and twentysomething women can make a brand or a name popular in no time because of the "viral" "wildfire" nature of their networking via the web and textmessaging and cell phones. Ya wanna be big? Tell a girl and she will tell 5 girls and they will tell 5 girls in turn, and so on.

I bought the CD today, listened to it, skipping the tracks I was already familiar with for now. My taste in music is unsually eclectic - I will listen to almost anything or at least give it a fair chance. And I love a lot of new music that "old" people like me (I'm 42) wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole - lots of snobbish babyboomers out there!

However, I have to say that the record ultimately felt like an anti-climax after all the teasing. I had hoped for more songs of the "Battle" caliber, more variety, more strongly defined melodies. I'm not asking for heavy duty lyrics - after all, Colbie is just 22 and thankfully not pretending to be singing "the blues" by way of blue eyed soul music. (Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse - are you listening?) But a little more surprises would have gone a long way.

But ultimately, this is a sunny breezy summer album which is what many people supposedly want and need at this point, with our world going to the dogs in so many scary ways. I used to think that we songwriters could wake people up and give them food-for-thought, at least once in a while - now I think that perhaps we are increasingly like the stoic classical quartet that keeps playing on the deck of the "unsinkable" Titanic, right up until she sinks. In other words: songwriters are perhaps merely here to entertain the people - rich, middleclass, working class and poor - on first class, second class and below deck until the bitter and possibly ugly end. Colbie entertains, nothing more, nothing less and I guess there's nothing wrong with that. She seems sweet enough and I'd rather have her be the number 1 artist on iTunes than any of the unnamed divas we are used to seeing these days.

The video for "Bubbly" is very pro and slick , but like a bowl of candy, hard to resist: makes you wanna head to the beach and cuddle up with your boyfriend or girlfriend at the bonfire. Malibu or Hawaii or any other beach for that matter.

3 stars for Colbie's personality, for a sunny album, for excellent production that puts the Ace - her voice - right up front and doesn't bury it under a mess of drum and bass and guitar and keys - or worse - drum machines and synths. And she did pick up the guitar a few years ago and also co-wrote all of the songs - she gets bonus points for that.

I predict that we may see her in feature movies soon, following in the footsteps of Mandy Moore?

...but I have to admit to some mixed feelings. Don't get me wrong; it's a great album, and one that makes us feel good...some singers uplift, some depress, and some merely inspire respect...any of those can get five stars, but I prefer to be happy, and Colbie can always supply that. She makes us feel good even when she has to touch feel bad subjects like "Midnight Bottle". What's more, she not only has a sexy voice, but you can actually understand the lyrics...You Go, Girl!!

As to specifics...the first 12 cuts need no comment...we've heard them for the past year...they've built Colbie's fan following, and they're great. The final 8 tracks give us some welcome new material, and, though she didn't write it all herself, it has a bit more of a personal touch, with Colbie's heart a bit more exposed [though nothing even approaching Carly Simon's heart-on sleeve]. Listen to #13 "Tell Him" and the following "Brand New Me"--she's opening herself just a bit, and her music rocks [just a touch] harder than the previous offering. "Somethin' Special", made for the Olympics, is indeed. Bob Marley's "Turn Your Lights Down Low" is a live performance, and it quite well done..I don't care for much of Marley's work, but I like this. The record closes with alternative versions of "Magic" and the BIG HIT "Bubbly"...I really like what she did with "Magic", but will confess to a preference for the original on "Bubbly". "Tell Him", and the Marley number are listed as "live", but no obtrusive audience noise. Thank you.

Colbie is pretty girl with a fine voice; she's still a work in progress, still spreading her wings ["Hoy Me Voy" and "Turn..."]. She should only get better. Beautifully presented album...great pictures...great sound and instrumental support. Five Stars. OK. What's the gripe I mentioned above? Premium price record. Twenty cuts. Twelve of them every one of her fans have had for a year. Two are remixes. That leaves us essentially paying for six cuts...great songs they are, But. I don't mind, but I can see how somebody else might.

Colbie, I love you. You're wonderful. "Coco" is a fine album. Twice. Please give us a whole recording of new material.

Colbie Caillat is definitely an artist worth watching. What she does sets her apart from all her peers currently in the recording business. While others tend to opt for histrionics (Christina Aguilera), blanket their songs in electronica (Britney Spears, Rihanna) or walk down a rock-driven road (Pink), Caillat appears to bring back simple story-telling in her music. Every song emits a gentle warmth and is a comfort to the ears and mind. That isn't to say that Caillat has nothing to say with her music. Her songs talk about love and loss in many forms from confessions of love (Oxygen), to heartbreak (Midnight bottle and Battle) to simply enjoying another's company (Bubbly and Realise). True, these timeless themes have been explored over and over with countless pop artists during the years but here they are given such a fresh and endearing reprising that one can't help but be tickled into turning that frown into a smile.

Those more accustomed to vocal bravura may find Caillat's vocals are limited in range but with this refreshing artist, it's more about a slight turning of a phrase or a minute change in vocal colour that speaks volumes. Listen, for example, in 'Realise' how she expresses a deeper yearning and earnest when she repeats phrases in the first verse. Caillat's voice pours out of her like mellow honey of pure gold and drips tantalisingly over the folksy guitar and slightly country arrangements. Here is a girl who knows what she's doing without having to pull all the stops.

I feel the highlights on this collection are 'Oxygen', 'Bubbly', 'Midnight Bottle', 'Realise', 'Battle' and the heartbreakingly tender 'Capri'.

An excellent debut. Those interested in Colbie may also enjoy 'Albertine' from New Zealand singer-songwriter Brooke Fraser.

I have really tried to like this album but I get bored every time I listen to it. Ms. Calliat's songs are as forgettable as her voice. I'm not sure why so many people are so crazy about her.