Coco (album)

Background and recording

When Caillat was an infant, she was nicknamed Coco and her debut album was titled Coco because of that.

Caillat later met producer Mikal Blue, who hired her to sing on techno songs used at fashion shows. Caillat began playing the acoustic guitar at the age of 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." The popularity of Caillat's MySpace profile led her to become the number-one unsigned singer in her genre for four consecutive months. Her father also produced her songs, producing her debut album and later albums. Coco was produced by Caillat, her father, Blue and Jason Reeves.

Title and artwork

The album was titled "Coco" because Coco was Caillat's nickname given to her when she was infant. The album's artwork was a still from Caillat's music video for the album's lead single "Bubbly", released on May 15, 2007. There are differences between the artwork for the standard and deluxe editions. The standard artwork shows the photo with a brown frame, while the deluxe artwork shows the photo without the frame but with blue waves and the words "DELUXE EDITION" on top. Also, a little yellow flower drawn next to the album title wasn't shown on the deluxe artwork.

Release and promotion

Coco was released on July 10, 2007 in Australia and Asia and a week later in North America. Its deluxe edition was released on September 3, 2008 in Japan and November 11, 2008 worldwide. The album was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA with shipments to U.S. retailers of 2,000,000 units. The album's first single, a smash hit, was "Bubbly", followed by a second single, "Realize", and the third, "The Little Things", which became the final single from the album in the United States. The deluxe edition song, "Somethin' Special (Beijing Olympic Mix)", was released as a fourth single on July 29, to give support to the American athletes participating in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The song also appeared on the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack.

According to one of the pictures on Caillat's MySpace page, it was assumed that her song "Battle" would have been the fourth and final single from Coco. Because of her collaboration with Jason Mraz, "Lucky", being released as a single and with the release of her second album, it is assumed that the single and music video were canceled and all promotion was then focused on "Lucky" and her second album Breakthrough.

Coco was also promoted with two tours: Coco Summer Tour in 2007 and Coco World Tour in 2008.

Singles

Critical reception

Critical reviews of the album were mixed. Allmusic said "she sings about simple, everyday things in an unassuming manner, letting her melodies and girl-next-door charm carry the day". Chuck Arnold (of People magazine) said that "although the midtempo tracks start to blend together, this California girl keeps the sun-kissed sounds coming." Caryn Ganz (with Rolling Stone) said Caillat has "soulful swing, but over a dozen bland, sunny tunes, it's hard to pin her down."