California Girl Making the Rainy Day Music

Colbie Caillat grew up in a musical family on the shores of Malibu and spent considerable time in Hawaii, so I suppose it’s no surprise the sound that seems most natural for her is more upbeat.

On the slower Starbucks side of the equation, Caillat has put together some moody stuff on tracks like “Realize” and “Battle.” She’s quite capable of the haunting Sara McLachlan/Dido vocal effect, at times her voice seems so produced it reminds a little bit of Imogen Heap. Specifically “Battle” takes a nice turn stripping down to just the piano accompaniment with a touch of acoustic before the “uh oh oh uh oh oh” finish. “Magic” is another sexy little your-body-is-a-wonderland number with Caillat pulling back the sheets crooning “you’ve got magic inside your fingertips, it’s leaking out all over my skin.” That’s HBO stuff right there, sweet nothings that don’t sound like it.

I should have mentioned this last week, but iTunes had the single “Bubbly” for free. And that’s a telling thing as CoCo is currently the #1 album on the site. The compliment to Caillat is that most people who pick up the free single as bait and go on to buy the album shouldn’t be disappointed. Make no mistake this isn’t The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by any means, but it’s a nice little diddy for the soccer mom’s SUV, the audio equivalent of summer’s strawberry wine.

I suppose it’s only natural to want to hear the 21-year old California girl Caillat singing like she has the top down on the convertible. And that’s what you get on “Bubbly,” “Oxygen,” “Feelings Show”, and the grass skirt tiki torch job “Tied Down” where Caillat even pulls out the ukulele and steel drums.

With age, wisdom, and experience Caillat may make the more serious stuff the highlights. Evidence of this is on the grand finisher “Capri.” “Capri” is the song where the girl becomes a woman bringing the goods on a stark twinkling track about a pregnant woman with “an angel growing peacefully.” But as for now, I’ll leave room for cream and sugar in my Coco.

All in Coco is an excellent debut, especially since Caillat writes most of the material with another singer/songwriter Jason Reeves. In a world of Paris and Lindsay, Colbie Caillat is worth investing in.