Breakthrough is the second studio album by Colbie Caillat. The album was released on August 25, 2009 in the United States through Universal Republic. The first single "Fallin' for You" was released on June 30, 2009 and was a success on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #12.

The album made its debut at number one on the Billboard 200.

"Breakthrough" has received mostly positive reviews and was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

Background and Production

Caillat worked with various producers, songwriters, and artists including Greg Wells, Rick Nowels, John Shanks, and American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi. Caillat set up a hi-octane 'writing camp' in Hawaii last year, inviting familiar collaborators Jason Reeves and Mikal Blue (who co-produced/co-wrote her debut album) and Kara DioGuardi to help with the album. The deluxe version of Breakthrough was released on August 25, and includes five bonus tracks.

Usage in films and television

*"You Got Me" was featured on the 2010 films Leap Yearhttp and Letters to Juliethttp and also on the TV series Melrose Place.

*"Fallin' For You" is on the soundtrack of the movie starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin, The Back-Up Plan, on the soundtrack of the Brazilian soap opera Viver a Vida and was also featured on Ghost Whisperer.

*"Begin Again (Instrumental)" was featured on Life Unexpected.

*"I Won't" was featured on One Tree Hill and on the series Pretty Little Liars.

*"Don't Hold Me Down" was featured in the 2010 film, Morning Glory.

Reception

The album has been met with fair to positive reviews. Michael Lello from Pop Matters gave to the album 7 stars (out of 10) and says that:

"On Breakthrough, Caillat wisely builds upon her strengths—the aforementioned disciplined singing approach and girly topics—rather than enter drastic new territory. There’s a consistency throughout the 12 tracks, which is remarkable considering she enlisted some proven hit-makers—co-writer John Shanks (Kelly Clarkson, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow), her producer dad Ken Caillat (who co-produced and co-engineered Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours), and writing partner Kara DioGuardi of American Idol. The industry pros serve to sweeten, not change, Caillat’s sound, which results in a richly textured album, not just a collection of radio-baiting singles, that retains the performer’s personality. The Allmusic review gave to the album 3 stars (out of 5) and says that: "'Breakthrough' 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". Billboard Magazine gave an average review saying: "Breakthrough never quite lives up to its title. But the songs that do diverge from the formula even slightly-like the Greg Wells-produced "Fearless"-offer delightful relief, and perhaps a taste of what could be if the singer were to dig deeper". The Sputnikmusic review was more favorable saying that: "Colbie’s soothing vocals, the warm sound of the music, and the memorable choruses are all well worth listening to this for when the mood for something easy hits you". Jim Farber from NY Daily News has said that "the inconsequence of Caillat’s sound provides a balm for the near nonstop rejection she suffers in her lyrics and even in those rare tracks where Caillat wins the guy, it doesn’t sound like she’s doing much with him beyond holding hands. Adults may giggle over that. But with songs this catchy, they’re also likely to find themselves singing along".. Retrieved 2010-09-12.

Singles

* "Fallin' For You" was released as the album's lead single on June 30, 2009. The single debuted at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming Caillat's highest chart debut selling over 118,000 digital downloads. The music video was released in July, 2009.

* "I Never Told You" is the second single from the album. It was officially released on February 16, 2010. It has peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100.

* "Begin Again" became the third single to be released from the album. It was released on June 29, 2010

Release history

Charts

Year-end charts

Sheet Music

The "Artist-Approved" sheet music for this album is available through Cherry Lane Music in a Piano/Vocal/Guitar folio.

References

Category:2009 albums

Category:Albums produced by Greg Wells

Category:Albums produced by John Shanks

Category:Albums produced by Ken Caillat

Category:Colbie Caillat albums

Category:Universal Republic albums

es:Breakthrough (álbum de Colbie Caillat)

it:Breakthrough

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Artist/Band Information

Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hit singles "Bubbly", "Realize", and "The Little Things". In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, "Lucky", which won a Grammy. Caillat released her second album, Breakthrough, in August 2009.

On December 2, 2009, Breakthrough was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards. She was also nominated twice for Best Pop Collaboration, for her featured vocals on Mraz's "Lucky" and her background vocals and writing on Taylor Swift's "Breathe", and was part of the group that won Album of the Year for her background vocals and writing on Swift's Fearless. The combined U.S. sales of her first two albums is about 2.5 million, with 4 million sold worldwide, and 10 million singles in the U.S. In 2010 she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway in honor of 2010 Nobel Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo.

Biography

Caillat was born in Malibu, California, and grew up in Newbury Park, California. Her father, Ken Caillat, co-produced Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977) and Tusk (1979) albums. As an infant, her parents gave her the nickname "Coco", which she would later name her debut album.

Caillat took piano lessons as a child, but lacked significant inspiration until she turned 11 years old, when she became enthralled with Lauryn Hill's performance in Sister Act 2. She realized that she wanted to be a singer, and began taking vocal lessons. She performed onstage for the first time in sixth grade. she soon met producer Mikal Blue who hired her to sing on techno songs used at fashion shows. Caillat began playing the acoustic guitar at age 19, and Blue helped her record her first song.

She auditioned for American Idol but was rejected at the pre-audition stage and was unable to sing for the judges. The second time she auditioned for the show, she sang her own original song, "Bubbly", and was rejected once again. However, Caillat expressed gratitude at the judges' decision, saying "I was shy. I was nervous. I didn't look the greatest. I wasn't ready for it yet. I was glad, when I auditioned, that they said no."

Music career

2007–2008: Coco

The popularity of Caillat's MySpace profile led her to become the number-one unsigned singer in her genre for four consecutive months. Her debut single was "Bubbly" and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Pop 100. "Bubbly" also reached #58 in the UK Singles Chart in September 2008 after 11 months in the chart. Two other singles followed, "Realize" (#20, Hot 100) and "The Little Things" (#94, Pop 100).

In May 2008, Caillat recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, called "Lucky," on his album, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things.Jasonmraz.com - The same month, Caillat recorded a cover of the song "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid for Disney's DisneyMania 6 CD. After touring with The Goo Goo Dolls and Lifehouse in 2007, she was the supporting act for John Mayer on his 2008 Summer Tour.

In August 2008, Caillat released a song and video for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics called "Somethin' Special" and released another music video for her song "The Little Things" for the U.S. market. Caillat also sings on "You" by Schiller and appears in the music video. Colbie has been involved in the soundtrack of the movie Imagine That; she and Mikal Blue cover the George Harrison song "Here Comes the Sun". She is also featured in Colombian singer Juanes album La vida... es un ratico (en vivo) in the song "Hoy Me Voy".

In October 2008, the song "Midnight Bottle" was included in the soundtrack of Brazilian soap opera "Três Irmãs", and despite not being released as a single yet, the song has received a lot of airplay in Brazil. She also participated in the role of herself on this soap opera. Caillat provided background vocals and co-wrote with Taylor Swift, for Swift's song called "Breathe", on her album, Fearless, which was released November 11, 2008. Caillat released a French version of "The Little Things" ("Ces petits riens") as a single.http

2009–2010: Breakthrough

Caillat's second album, entitled Breakthrough, was released on August 21, 2009, in Germany; August 24 in the rest of Europe; and a day after that in the US. Most of the album was co-written by Jason Reeves, an American songwriter signed to Warner Bros. Records and features world-renowned guitarist David Becker on two tracks. Becker has worked with the singer's father Ken on several of his own recordings.http

The first single from Breakthrough, "Fallin' for You", was released on June 29, 2009.

On August 4, 2009, the album was made available to pre-order through iTunes with the bonus song "Hold Your Head High". This configuration also comes with a reggae version of "Begin Again". During "Breakthrough" Colbie had writer's block so she enlisted her friends, Kara DioGuardi, Jason Reeves and they went to Hawaii for three weeks, rented a beach house and wrote songs about love, relationships and breakups.

Caillat released two Christmas songs for the 2009 holiday season, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Merry Christmas, Baby." She and collaborator Stacy Blue (who co-wrote Caillat's 2007 holiday single "Mistletoe") are also planning to write some new Christmas songs.Gary Graff (September 2, 2009). . Billboard. Accessed October 17, 2010. Archie Comics released an issue with her as guest star.

Caillat told Broken Records Magazine in Volume 1 Issue 3 that she "is so honored to be recognized as BMI's songwriter of the year and it is an amazing accomplishment that I never expected! Getting to travel the world and play my songs has to be one of the best jobs in the world."

The second single, "I Never Told You," was released February 16, 2010.

According to her official website, Caillat is currently writing and recording songs for her third studio album. Her father Ken Caillat is again at the producing helm for part of the recording, and guitarist David Becker is also on board.

In June 2010, Caillat recorded a song for Levi's Pioneer's Sessions, a remake of Blondie's song, "Maria." The track is available as a free download from the official site.http

In July 2010, Caillat performed God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch at the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. She is currently dating Justin Kawika Young, the Hawaiian-raised kid and other vocalist in her band, who helped inspire her upcoming third album.http In the same article, a song titled "Shadow" was confirmed to be on her upcoming album.

In September 2010, Caillat performed the national anthem in the season opener game of the National Football League in New Orleans and a Monday Night Football game in Chicago.

In December 2010, Caillat performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway.

2011–present: All of You

On September 12, 2010 at her Pechanga Resort & Casino concert, Caillat announced her upcoming album is being recorded and will be released in 2011.So far "I Do" has been released, and it hit number one on iTunes store its first day. She also played 5 songs from the upcoming album for the first time in public. The songs, and their stories she described behind them, are as follows:

*"I Do" – Caillat said it is supposed to be sort of a joke but it is hard to explain and it is about marriage.

*"Dream Life" – Caillat said that her friends always talk about this dream life they wish they had where they spend their days by the pool drinking cocktails.

*"Shadow" – Caillat explained that this song was about and directed toward a friend of hers who has been with the same guy for a year and he refuses to call her his girlfriend so the song is about what she should say to him.

*"Before I Let You Go" – Caillat said she wrote this when she was angry at someone and it is about how they should change their ways before they are out of her life.

*"Let's Make It Rain" – Caillat said she wrote this last summer, 2009 and it is about doing what you want and not caring what other people think.

*"What If" – Originally featured in the movie "Letters to Juliet," Caillat described the song as "about day dreaming about being in love."

*"What Means the Most"

*"Happier"

*"All of You"

*"Like Yesterday"

*"Brighter Than the Sun"

*"Favorite Song"(Featuring Common)

*"Stereo"

*"Think Good Thoughts"

It has been reported by several news outlets that the album would be titled "Swing" but Caillat has reiterated that she has not reached a final decision yet. In an interview on Artisan News, it was revealed that the first single for the album was to be out January 7, and is "I Do".http Colbie announced that she teamed up with Lady Antebellum on one of her songs on her upcoming album.http

On January 10, 2011, Caillat performed "Bubbly" at the Detroit Auto Show at the Mercedes-Benz Press Event. On January 26, 2011, Caillat uploaded a video preview of the new single "I Do" on Facebook. The single was released on February 7, 2011. Her new album will be released May 3, 2011.

Discography

* Coco (2007)

* Breakthrough (2009)

* All of You (2011)http

Tours

* 2008: John Mayer 2008 Summer Tour

* 2008: Coco Summer Tour

* 2008: Coco World Tour

* 2009/2010: Breakthrough World Tour

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Caillat has won two awards from four nominations, including Album of the Year (as featured artist).

References