Colbie Caillat is the kind of artist you start to like instantly. Her millions of MySpace fans could attest to this: it was their multiple listens that projected Colbie to fame as the #1 unsigned artist in the genre--and to this album.

Colbie's voice is a tiny bit husky, and her music is like a sunset ride on a beach with the car top down. It's mellow, light and warm--but not fluffy. And in case this is starting to sound more like a KFC biscuit than a CD, here's what I mean: If you put together the smooth sound of Corinne Bailey Rae, the guitar of Jack Johnson, the voices of Sheryl Crow and Bethany Dillon, the vulnerability of Jewel, the edgy soul of Sara Bareilles, and the poetry of John Mayer, you'd get something pretty close to Colbie. Her acoustic/folk/pop style most closely matches that of Bethany Dillon than anything else I've ever listened to, but there's a pretty good chance that if you like any of the artists mentioned above, you'll like Colbie, too.

The album, titled Coco, starts off with Oxygen, a bright, poppy song promising a dream boy that "if I was your lady, I would make you happy." In The Little Things, Colbie claims that she'd be better off alone, even though she wishes she could give him another chance. One Fine Wire describes the feeling of being unbalanced by thoughts. The chorus of this song breezes right past, and if you're singing along, you get a little breathless from trying to keep up, but in a good way. (You know, like when you're listening to Big Girls Don't Cry and get to that "and I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket" part. Admit it! I don't like Fergie either, but I sing along when that part comes. :)

Bubbly is the catchy tune that really propelled Colbie to radio fame. It's cute and simple, sweet without getting cheesy, describing how love brings tingles "in a silly place/it starts in my toes/makes me crinkle my nose."

The beginning of Feelings Show reminds me a little of Ashlee Simpson's Pieces of Me, soundwise. Here, she's trying to let a guy know what she thinks about him but is still trying to figure it out for herself. Colbie again gives us a fast chorus: just a few lines, but you have to sing them all in one breath to get the full effect.

Midnight Bottle has more of the pop/rock Michelle Branch feeling to it than the softer beach-rock sound on most of the record. In this song, Colbie wants to drink down her midnight bottle, a "one-way ticket takes me to the times we had before."

Realize is where Colbie sounds identical to Bethany Dillon. Folksy, with an accompanying male vocalist (friend Jason Reeves), it's a plea for a love to "realize what I just realized/then we'd be perfect for each other." Battle is a darker-sounding melody about a friendship searching for repair, in which Colbie's voice shows tinges of Sarah McLachlan.

Tailor Made encourages a friend to let go of her doubts and just fall in love because he's "tailor-made for you." Magic softly describes the effects of a loved one's touch, while Tied Down is all about the Jack Johnson rhythm as Colbie proclaims independence from a relationship trying to hold her back. Finally, Capri slowly wraps up with the story of a pregnant girl, assuring that both mother and baby will be okay and are beautiful.

As you can see, the album has a lot of focus on love and relationships, but Colbie's take on things comes across as refreshing and honest. And while the songs cover everything from being in love to getting out of love, they're all done tastefully. That is, I wouldn't cringe to hear little girls singing along with most of the songs (except maybe Magic), since Colbie's not tearing apart the male species as she asserts her independence, nor is she explicit. Midnight Bottle might concern some, though it seems like the bottle is a metaphor rather than an image of Colbie actually kicking back a cold one.

Not all of the lyrics are blast-you-away insightful, but they're not just cutesy and marshmallowriffic, either. I think Colbie's done a great job of keeping her songs uncluttered, and that makes them easy on the ear and on the mouth that's trying to sing along. She's got a great thing going here, and I wouldn't be surprised if her career just exploded (in a happy way, not a Mount-Vesuvius-eating-Pompeii way) over the next few years--if that's even possible after her MySpace-to-nationwide-fame explosion. She obviously caters to the female crowd, as Coco could be the soundtrack to most women's imaginary lives, but I think any acoustic fan would be pleased to own this CD.

(And, while you're out there getting acquainted with Ms. Caillat, consider checking out Bethany Dillon as well. Good sound, solid songs: they'd be excellent companions on a CD shelf. :)

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving