Colbie Caillat's breakthrough arrived before
Breakthrough, when her debut
Coco turned into a breezy surprise hit.
Breakthrough isn't meant to catapult
Caillat into a mainstream that already knows her, but to consolidate her success, so it's not entirely a surprise that the album bears evidence of her showbiz kid roots, a record that relies just a bit more on the studio than the song. It's a creation that's slicker and sleeker than the debut, but fortunately, it's not quite at the expense of
Caillat's simple charms. The high-buff sheen on
Breakthrough can mean that the songs glide down a little too smoothly, sliding down like a velvety Piña Colada which is perhaps a bit too sophisticated after the everyday charms of
Coco, and perhaps a little bit too polished for
Colbie in general. Underneath all that gloss,
Caillat remains a simple girl singing songs of love as light and crisp as a sugar cookie. Too many of these in a row can cause a toothache -- and that's particularly true in the deluxe edition that runs a very lengthy 17 tracks -- but having a handful at a time is a sweet ordinary treat. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine