All Of You

Colbie Caillat’ most summery album

On seeing Lauren Hill’s performance the then eleven year old Colbie Caillat realized what her main occupation in life was going to be. The daughter of a successful producer, she was already taking piano lessons by that time, and adding vocals to them she eventually performed on stage for the first time in the sixth grade of secondary school. Her father’s help, persistent learning, working on her voice and ear – all of it soon inspired the girl to write her own songs. Creating a page on MySpace bore fruit surprisingly fast – Colbie Caillat signed a record deal with Universal Republic, and 2007 saw the release of her debut album Coco. Two years later the sophomore effort Breakthrough saw the light of the day, and each of the works offered songs about how important it is to love and be loved and value each happy moment. Musically Colbie Caillat’s records are a light mixture of pop music, country and contemporary rock, with acoustic guitar and keyboards often standing out in the instrumentation; but it is always the singer’s sweet and beautiful voice that remains in the centre of attention. Colbie Caillat started recording her third studio album All Of You a year ago and considers it her most summery one of all for it offers more up-tempo and joyful songs in which the sincerity and lightness are preserved, being characteristic of all the twenty-six year old artist’s works with no exception.

Optimism, positive mood and a but of vulnerability on All Of You

Always happy to work as part of a professionals’ team, Colbie Caillat wrote the new songs with such talented authors as Ryan Tedder, Toby Gad as well as Jason Reeves and Rick Nowels with whom she collaborated on her previous album. A real surprise for the fans is the collaboration with rapper Common titled simply Favorite Song. It is one of the most positive and optimistic tracks on the album, a delicious cocktail of reggae, ska and rock with a memorable chorus and a good combination of rapping and vocals. Yet, the record All Of You does not exhaust its pluses on it. Both the igniting album opener Brighter Than The Sun and the single I Do are sure to conquer you with their endless optimism: on the former feelings are compared to the sun, on the latter the unmade proposal is accepted in advance. The song Before I Let You Go will leave nobody indifferent due to a very nice rhythm, a great vocal performance by Colbie and a beautiful melody. The reggae motif appears once again on Think Good Thoughts, it is a smoother track less loaded with instrumentation except for the electric guitar on chorus, and the lyrics here is filled with wise thoughts and advice. The title composition is probably not the album’s highlight musically and does not fully reflect its summery concept but Colbie is expressing her most sacred feelings and desires on it, which is definitely more important than any fun having. The album closes with two soulful ballads What Means The Most and Make It Rain, essential here as it is only in them that the singer can fully express her passion, gentleness and vulnerability, qualities without which any romance is just ruined.

Happiness in personal life is the main reason to be happy

No doubt, one can watch Colbie Caillat grow and gain life experience listening to her albums, as she is the protagonist of most songs on them. The singer always liked to make her listeners smile, and the lyrics on the new album All Of You is also not devoid of humor and irony but now the major melodies and rhythms are added to them that make one think of island dance music. What might be the reason for such cheerfulness? The main motive is probably the trivial happiness in her personal life: Colbie is dating musician Justin Young who has taken part in writing three tracks for All Of You, the joined creative work that has made the artist feel really delighted. Besides, the spirit of the Sunshiny California has left its footprints in these songs as in many others for everything that there is in this state is associated with summer for most people. Many tracks are good to dance to; others will simply justify Colbie Caillat’s fans’ expectations. Anyways, her voice has become more confident, the record quality is faultless, and listening to the album All Of You it is very easy to believe in love, in oneself and that everything is going to be just fine for all of us.