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Colbie Caillat
Coco
(Universal Republic)
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2007, Volume 14, #9
Written by John Metzger
Colbie Caillat is not what she initially appears to be. Thus far, her biggest
claim to fame is that "with no marketing push" she once was known as the #1
unsigned artist on MySpace, where her songs were spun more than 10 million times
by apparent passers-by. On the other hand, her father Ken served as co-producer
of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Tusk. Anyone thinking there isn’t a
connection here is asleep to the prevalent media manipulation practices that
currently dominate the internet and advertising worlds.
Still, Caillat isn’t a talent-less hack. For starters, she penned or
co-penned all 12 of the tracks on her debut Coco. Although her lyrics
largely mine the familiar ground of romantic relationships that are in various
stages of either building up or breaking down, she has an unerring knack for
wrapping her warm, inviting voice around the engaging melodies of her infectious
confections. While her material falls somewhere between folk and pop, she sings
it with the R&B-laden sultriness of Joss Stone.
Caillat’s biggest problem, however, is that as Coco progresses, its
songs all begin to sound the same. Mikal Blue’s slick production pulls out every
trick in the book, and the utter predictability of his arrangements has the
effect of causing Caillat’s mid-tempo musings to blur indistinctly together.
There’s no doubt that from a professional perspective, the material is
well-executed. Nothing is offensive, and the entirety of the collection is quite
pleasant to hear. Nevertheless, with all of its rough edges having been shorn
away, the result is that Blue’s gleaming production turns Coco into an
album that also is mediocre in the worst possible way. Caillat’s generic
refrains induce, rather than ward off, a soporific stupor, which makes Coco
the perfect endeavor for plying customers with more coffee. 
Coco is available from Amazon.
To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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