Album- All of You
Artist- Colbie Caillat
Colbie Caillat, American singer songwriter and pop maestro
is a person who is perhaps one of the best musicians in terms of her ability to
craft breezy pop songs that are light but also emotionally touch you, and which
you can just chill along into and bask in the strong energy of. Since bringing
out her hit track ‘Bubbly’ back in 2007, Caillat has enjoyed a strong career in
the American pop music market. After releasing a Christmas album, being
transitioned onto the Republic Records label along with a number of other
artists, and with a fourth studio album in the works, I thought I would reflect
on Caillat’s latest proper studio album and see how excited I should be for
more music from her.
Track 1- Brighter
Than the Sun
The record opens with the second single release from this
album, and a track that was co- written by current hit maker and the frontman
of One Republic, Ryan Tedder. Caillat has spoken of how the song has a punch
and is so up tempo and happy, and indeed this is an apt description of the
track, where we find Caillat singing about falling in love, use a plethora of
metaphors to express this sentiment. Her light vocal tone makes this s a
refreshing summery tune and has that touch of believability, whilst the
production is nice in its fast paced quality and the way that the different
sections of the track are led by different types of instrumentation, which
keeps you interested, and the whole track just has a tone of dance around and
enjoy life that is infectious, if a bit clichéd.
3.5/5
Track 2- I Do
Track number 2 was the second single from the record and
continues along the same light and quite summery tones of the previous track.
The song has a finger snapping tone that makes it slightly more infectious in
tone than the last track, and the hook of “I Do” is really strong and something
that will get stuck in your head. The lyrics do suffer a bit from cliché as
Caillat sings of not wanting to fall in love but this man has come into her
life, and now she has totally changed and wants to actually marry him. However
the light vibrancy of the vocal performance is strong enough to cover up the
cliché, and the rise and fall of her voice in the chorus gives a catchy, she is
in love quality to the track. The production is more acoustically arranged,
employing folk sensibilities alongside the pop qualities through the great use
of a ukulele in the transitions between sections, and the whole song is just
built on these shuffling beats that makes it a great song to listen/ sing along
to driving in the car on a lovely summers day.
3.5/5
Track 3- Before I Let
You Go
Even though there is a finger snapping quality to this track
and a slightly light edge, the happiness takes more of a backseat and instead
we are treated to a more ambivalent Caillat, as she sings about this guy who
she is a slight love triangle with and she has waited for things to change, but
she is unsure whether she can handle it anymore. The fast paced quality of the
lyrics and the vocal makes this song come across slightly as plea which suits
the lyrical message, and although her voice is naturally light and so suits
happier songs, this track does nicely show of the soft, fragile quality to her
voice, and so the song gives a bit of artistic variation. The production is
nice with the hand clapping beats and light acoustic guitar; however I wish she
had changed up the sound a little as the song could have had more of an
emotional impact.
3/5
Track 4- Favourite
Song (featuring Common)
Chosen by fans to be the third single from the record,
Favourite Song is a change in the record as the guitar driven pop tune has a
slightly island tone and is a bit more of a hip hop jam. The lyrics focus on
this metaphorical idea of wanting to be someone’s favourite song, which
basically means you want to be in someone’s affections. The ‘la la la’ hook is
catchy and the chorus is simple and light to make for a memorable, if not very
unique, tune. Both Caillat and Common bring vibrant personality’s to the track,
although I am not sure if they blend as well as they should within the track.
However, the hip hop flecked sound really suits Caillat in a way that some
people probably didn’t think it would, and so this is another great song for
summer, particularly for beach/ pool parties.
3.5/5
Track 5- What If
Used within the 2010 romantic drama film Letters to Juliet,
What If is a light song that finds the singer in a familiar loved up state that
is extremely infectious. The song has a smooth vocal tone that is made very
appealing in terms of the soft, lilting tone that the singer employing, with
the slow emphasis on the last parts of each line making for a song that feels
very light and chilled. And it’s a vocal performance that makes you more
invested in what she is singing, as she tells us of how she believes that she
is really in love with this guy and just feels so great, whilst the chorus
centres on the singer asking the question of whether they were fated to meet
and love each other, and whether this can be a real love. The happy, loved up
spirit of the track is its most appealing quality, however the track is also
great in terms of showing the singer pushing her sound a bit and offering a
nice little bit of variation within the record, as her normally acoustic guitar
based production is here changed in favour of electric guitar rhythms that
really suit the song and give a vibrant edge to this track.
4/5
Track 6- Shadow
Shadow is another song that shows more of an ambivalent and
slightly vulnerable quality to the singer as she tells her lover to leave if he
wants to, as she isn’t really getting what she needs out of the relationship
and has tried her hardest. The song has a punchy tone with the production that
embeds a slightly more prominent pop rock edge within her music in terms of the
acoustic guitar riffs being meddling with this forceful drum beat that makes
you think that she is a bit more serious in what she is singing. The song has a
simple honesty that is reflected in the catchy tone of the chorus, with the
metaphorical basis of the song being a nice quality in the track, and the final
moments of the song with the short electric guitar solo makes this song have a
bit more of a statement feel. The only problem for me with this track is the
vocal performance, as there is a sense of fragility to the vocal that is very
nice, but I feel that if things were a little more aggressive or passionate
with the vocal than this really would have made this track a standout on the
album.
3.5/5
Track 7- Think Good
Thoughts
Caillat brings a more universal message to the album with
this track where she seems to perhaps want to inspire people as she things of
how when she is feeling bad she just tells herself to think good thoughts,
which acts like a weapon to lift her out of a dark mood. With references to
peace, this is definitely a song designed to make the listener think about life
and just try to make the world a better place by being positive, and the ‘na na
na’ hook of the post chorus gives us a catchy tune that makes this song have a
come together as one tone. The light tone of the singer gives us the sense that
she does think of good thoughts, and the way that the track blends her vocals
with the background vocals to create a chorus of voices in the final choruses
gives the songs finish a bit more of an impact. The problem with this song is
that the lyrics are marred by some clichéd images that suggest she is not
totally invested in what she is singing, and whilst the light pop sound of
acoustic guitar is nice, and the drum claps have slightly different tone to
some of the other songs, the sound is still a bit too familiar.
3/5
Track 8- Like Yesterday
Things are kept light with
this song that finds the singer telling us and this guy of how she remembers
like it was yesterday that they were just friends, but now she has been saved
by him and is truly in love with him. The fast paced tone of the chorus makes
the singer sound loved up, and the lyrical content has a sweetness that makes
this song feel ideal for teenagers in the throes of first love with a friend
they didn’t expect to love. The vocal performance has a chilled swaying tone
that wants again makes this a nice track to just sit and listen to, whilst the
production is a little bit different as the drum beats are a little heavier and
quicker, whilst the guitar strumming has a little bit more of a heavier tone
and feels to me a little bit European.
3.5/5
Track 9- All of You
The records title track is a positive song that starts of as
kind of an apology, and finds the singer preaching the message of loving your
partner despite all the good and bad things that come with them. This message
comes out in the honesty and simplicity of the track, and the singer brings a
vocal performance that feels a bit more passionate than some of the other
tracks whilst still having a light and appealing tone. The production is nice
and chilled with the mellow guitar instrumentation, with the bridge being a
particularly great section in terms of the stop and start rhythm of the guitar
that allows for a potent finish to the tune.
3.5/5
Track 10- Dream Life,
Life
Another universal message from the singer is shown with this
light but lyrically fast paced tune where Caillat expresses the sentiment of
forgetting the worries and stress we have and just live life, with the chorus
centring on how she wants this dream life, giving an aspirational tone to the
track. The vocal performance brings the dream life message and fun energy of
the track out but perhaps doesn’t make us truly believe in what she is singing,
whilst the ‘dream life, life’ hook becomes annoying after a while. The
production has a slightly more pop rock edge with the use of electric guitar
and more heavy drums, but the sound is a bit bland, although the way the song
plays out at the end is a nice finishing touch.
3/5
Track 11- What Means
the Most
The most mellow song on the record, What Means the Most is a
very sweet love song that is an ode to the little things of life and a track
that is lyrically embedding in the idea of finding peace of mind from just
being with a loved one. The songs sweetness comes across in the vocal
performance, with the softness of the verses (which sound a little like a
teenager in love and so feels cute) contrasting nice with the more powerful
quality of the chorus. The chorus has a lovely simplicity that is catchy, and
the whole song is great in terms of the guitar instrumentation giving us a
mellow tone that makes things more believable, with the drums and electric
guitar being employed in places to simply add power to the words.
3.5/5
Track 12- Make It
Rain
The final track is the only song on the record to be solely
written by Caillat. Here we find the singer in a stereotypical mode musically
in terms of the way the record finishes, but the stereotypical quality works in
terms of the way that the album is embedded in the theme of love, and so this
is a perfect song to finish the album with. The track lyrically finds the
singer telling her beau of how they have grown together and that she does not
care what others think, as there love is so strong. The lyrics work in the way
that the singer directly addresses her love, although sometime the use of
clichés such as ‘brown eyes’ makes the song feel a bit bland. The singer
provides a smooth vocal performance that gives a swaying rhythm to the track
and gives her love that she conveys this essence of purity, and so we can
believe that she truly doesn’t care what others say. The production is nice,
with the guitar rhythms having a simple tone that makes us listen to the words
a little more clearly, with drums simply being employed to create a build in
the songs sound that makes you emotionally invested in a way.
3.5/5
Final Review
With this album Caillait brings us a strong record filled
with finely crafted pop tunes that have touches of other genres and a pure
quality that is infectious, with the more vibrant numbers being offsetted
nicely by the slower songs. Caillat’s voice has a soft and smooth quality that
is very appealing, and is definitely strong in terms of the more summery
flavoured songs. The issue with this record is that there needs to be just a
little bit more of a variation in sound, as although some songs are markedly
different, the final few songs on the record start to collectively let your
interest go. A strong album but the singer perhaps needs to go and do something
such as travelling in order to find some new musical inspiration, as her sound
is perhaps becoming defined by her breakthrough hit.
7/10
Best Track- What If
Worst Track- Dream
Life, Life
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