 Colbie Caillat: Breakthrough
About.com Guide
Released August 2009 by Universal Republic.
One of the fascinating aspects of Colbie Caillat's second solo album Breakthrough is that she put together a "writing camp" of songwriters in Hawaii last year inviting her frequent collaborators Jason Reeves and Mikal Blue as well as Kara DioGuardi to write possible songs for the album. Reportedly they churned out about 50 songs and eventually whittled it down to the 13 that make up Breakthrough. The final result is remarkably slick, cohesive and similar sounding, but that isn't always a great thing.
Yes It's Pleasant, But...
Colbie Caillat is a very pleasing, charming performer. Her personality was the true animation behind the breakthrough single "Bubbly." She sounds just as winning here, and you can hear her smile in the music. However, if you were to watch these songs performed in a small club, chances are after the second or third song you would be thinking about that next drink, chatting with friends, and pleased at the simple, non-distracting music played onstage. There is a need for music like this, but Caillat's pristine vocals and occasional way with words promises much more than she seems to deliver on record. Words like, "The way you take my hand is just so sweet, and that crooked smile of yours it knocks me off my feet," on "You Got Me" may generate a small smile, but depth is lacking.
Background Music for a Warm Summer Day
The up side is if you want pleasant music on a warm summer day to play in the background, or need contemporary music for an event likely to offend no one, Breakthrough is your album. "Fallin' For You" has a midtempo gently rocking beat that is among the most infectious here. Singing along is even likely after the second or third time through. Or break down this album into just snippets of two or three songs in the midst of other music and Colbie Caillat will add to your listening experience.
Top Tracks on Breakthrough
* "I Won't"
* "Fallin' For You"
* "Break Through"
Consolidating the Fan Base Instead of Reaching Out
The title Breakthrough may be a bit confusing to some listeners. It seems to carry the connotation of reaching in a new direction or depicting a new level of achievement for the artist. Instead of something to fit those expectations, this album seems primarily an effort to consolidate Colbie Caillat's existing fan base. If you were charmed by her first album Coco, chances are you will like this one too. It's a a little slicker, a little more polished, but it is the same Colbie Caillat. Remember to take it in the car when you are off to the park or the beach as the closing days of summer do their magic, and you are unlikely to be sorry.
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 OneRepublic: Waking Up
About.com Guide
For those who expected Ryan Tedder and company might deliver a OneRepublic album filled with statuesque ballads in the style of much of his work for other artists, Waking Up will indeed wake them up. Instead, the band shows off their versatility in rhythm, instrumentation and mood. OneRepublic remain firmly grounded in a pop aesthetic, but there is a restless, creative energy present on the majority of the tracks that is likely to make you smile and think simply, "That is a good song." Waking Up risks being lost in the avalanche of pre-Thanksgiving releases, but it is well worth seeking out.
In a recent interview with Ryan Tedder, the group's lead vocalist, songwriter and producer, he stated that the group wanted to avoid repeating their biggest success and sounding like "Apologize, Pt. 2." The release of the lead single "All the Right Moves" announced that the band indeed was moving on. There are ballads here, but they head in other directions for the band.
Despite the fact that OneRepublic have left "Apologize" behind, they have not ignored influences from the song's collaborator, Tedder's mentor Timbaland. The rhythmic intensity that kicks off the album on "Made For You," complexity of textures on "All the Right Moves," and ramped up drums that kick off "Good Life" all point toward good lessons learned at his side.
The Elements of a Successful Pop Song and Album
If you are looking for a stirring depth of lyrical meaning, OneRepublic is not your band. However, if you enjoy listening to pop songs with engaging structure and multiple hooks blended into an album programmed to maintain interest throughout, Waking Up is a great bet. The majority of the songs here abound in layers of sound stacked together in a way that will catch your ear the first time through leaving you wanting to hear it again. Ryan Tedder's smooth tenor voice floats above the band's tight playing like a tour guide through the best elements of contemporary studio pop. Here and there things become a bit too self-conscious. The title song shows the band seeming to want to outdo U2 at being U2, but the best songs here are distinctly the band's own.
Top Tracks on 'Waking Up'
* "Made For You"
* "All the Right Moves"
* "Secrets"
* "Marchin' On"
* "Lullaby"
Expertly Crafted Pop Music
The most obvious impression left from listening to Waking Up is that its a work of expert pop music craft. These are songs designed to please an audience and most are very successful at that goal. "All the Right Moves" is a small masterpiece that somehow gets better every time it is heard. Mainstream pop fans should not miss this album. It is one you can return to for basic pop pleasure time and again, and my instinct is a number of the tracks here will become long-term favorites.
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 Norah Jones: The Fall
LiveDaily.com
Still friendly and folksy, Norah Jones has made another good album, her first venture toward an electric pop-rock record. It is also her breakup tome, with 10 of the 13 songs solidly addressing the final stages of a romance, the dripping confusion of a break-up's aftermath and the predicaments that come with re-entry into single life.
The reflections on "The Fall" come from her real-life breakup with longtime bassist and romantic partner Lee Alexander, and for the first time in her four-album career, her first-person voice dominates. Jones' songwriting is full of questions and remorse, her head spinning from ruminations about the next chapter. Alternately, she's ruined, lonely, needy and, on "Man of the Hour," finding solace in her pet dog, the theme of the album's artwork.
But Jones also has her wits about her. "I should go back to Manhattan," she sings, "It's just a train ride away/I know nothing 'bout leaving/But I know I should do it today."
Musically, "The Fall" is Jones' first full dive into leading an electric band, splitting her time between guitar, piano and Wurlitzer organ. The smoothness and tempos of her more popular earlier work remain; the electric instruments simply create different framing devices. The polished blues "Stuck" (think Lucinda Williams) and gritty "It's Gonna Be" are the only tunes with gritty rock-and-roll textures.
The appeal of "The Fall" is wholly in line with that of Jones' mega-selling debut. Both records play to her vocal strength, specifically her ability to communicate as if sharing thought over coffee or the last drink of the night. As a communicator, she is not unlike Frank Sinatra, especially on the records he cut during World War II and during his saloon phase in the late '50s. Sinatra mastered directness--that feeling that the singer is communicating to you and you alone--and Norah's purr, especially on ballads, separates her from a long list of singers using their diaries as source material. In expressing pain and indecision, Jones is a master conversationalist.
Like Sinatra, Jones has never fully fit the description of jazz artist, though she certainly deserved it for her sultry cover of Bryan Ferry's "More Than This" on Charlie Hunter's "Songs from the Analog Playground" from 2001. Sinatra and Jones share that jazz-singer touch of never appearing to be threatening, using the phrasing to tell the listener something deeper is happening with the song's character.
A second, more subtle jazz influence involves Jones' variations on mid-tempo. "The Fall" has ballads but none of the music is achingly slow; she's no Jimmy Scott. Compared to other /songwriters working with full bands, her music is on the slow side, but few others strive to find subtlety by varying the count-off of a beat--that's the territory of jazz pianists such as Mose Allison and the late Phineas Newborn Jr.
Over the course of three albums recorded while she was in her 20s, Jones had a floating magnetism. At 30, she is addressing a roadblock, adjusting the sonic treatment and trying a direct approach. A new phase? Possibly. More importantly, the entire album exhales with the breath of honesty.
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