Sweetness rules on Colbie Caillat's debut, Coco, which is perhaps only appropriate for an album bearing that name. The record doesn't play like a toasty mug of chocolate on a winter's day, though; it's a sugary lemonade on a breezy summer afternoon. It's light and comforting, a familiar blend of sunny pop and singer/songwriter tropes that flirt with cliché but never sound hackneyed -- a lighter, brighter spin on Norah Jones that sounds like an ideal soundtrack to a few hours in a cozy coffeehouse or a montage on Grey's Anatomy, whatever comes first. If that gives the impression that Caillat is a little calculated -- and if her music-biz heritage (her dad co-produced Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Tusk) gives the sense that she may have had a silver spoon, and if her celebrated MySpace popularity is also initially suspect -- then as an album Coco shows no crassness or coldness: it flows easily and, yes, sweetly, filled with gently ingratiating melodies and delivered with warmth and a casual charisma that proves to be quite endearing by the end of the record. Caillat doesn't attempt anything approaching a major statement -- the album is filled with songs about love and life -- but that's her appeal: she sings about simple, everyday things in an unassuming manner, letting her melodies and girl-next-door charm carry the day, and they do so winningly on this nicely mellow debut.
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