''Breakthrough'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic ...

. The album was released on August 19, 2009 through

Universal Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

. The follow-up to her successful debut album, '' Coco'' (2007), ''Breakthrough'' was developed in late 2008 when Caillat returned to her home after two years on tour, with the singer setting up a "writing camp" with songwriters and producers in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and writing over 40 songs for the record. Inspired by the fact that she was trying to find herself again and breaking the creativity chains that surrounded her, ''Breakthrough'' deals with themes of growing up, experiencing life, love, making mistakes and learning from them, as well as heartbreak and why everlasting love seems elusive. To help develop her expected sound and lyrics, Caillat worked with previous collaborators, such as

Mikal Blue Michael Blue (born 3 March 1966) is an English music producer, songwriter, engineer and mixer best known for his work with Colbie Caillat, Jason Reeves, Jason Mraz, Five For Fighting and OneRepublic, better known under the stage name Mikal B ...

Ken Caillat Kenneth Douglas Caillat ( ) is an American record producer. He is best known for engineering the Fleetwood Mac albums '' Rumours'', ''Tusk'', ''Mirage'', ''Live'', and '' The Chain Box Set''. Life and career Caillat was the president of 5.1 Ent ...

and Jason Reeves, while working for the first time with

Kara Dioguardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi (; born December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales o ...

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

and

David Becker David Becker (born 20 October 1961) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute. Career David and his brother Bruce (drummer) formed the David Becker Tribune and toured ...

. ''Breakthrough'' received generally mixed to favorable reviews from contemporary music critics, with some praising its rich texture and for being a consistent album with catchy tracks, while others dismissing its title and finding issues with some of the song's lyrics. The album was nominated for

Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

at the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...

. Commercially, it was successful in the United States, debuting at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 106,000 copies in its first week, becoming her first album to top the Billboard charts. Elsewhere, it reached the top-ten in four countries, while failing to replicate the success of her debut album in other territories. The album produced two singles. The first single, " Fallin' for You", was released on June 29, 2009 and was a success on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number twelve, while also finding success on the Adult radio. Elsewhere, it was a moderate hit. The second single, " I Never Told You", was released on February 16, 2010, and found similar success on the Adult charts, while being more moderate on the Billboard Hot 100. To promote the record, Caillat embarked on her Breakthrough World Tour (2009-2010).

Background and production

After the success of her debut album, '' Coco'' (2007), which sold over five million copies worldwide and spawned her biggest hit, " Bubbly", Caillat went on tour for two years to promote the record. At the end of the album's promotion and the tour, Caillat went home and realized she had to find herself again. According to herself, "It requires a lot of discipline to open yourself up to new influences and break the chains around you creatively. I must say this process has been the greatest learning experience for me. It's so great to be working and writing in new ways, with old friends and new." At first, she recorded a few tracks with her dad and producer

, however her label wasn't thrilled with the outcome and wanted new producers to rework the tracks. In November 2008, she went to the studio for the first time with songwriter and record producer

Hanalei Bay Hanalei Bay is the largest bay on the north shore of Kauaʻi island in Hawaii. The town of Hanalei is at the midpoint of the bay. Geography Hanalei Bay consists of nearly of beach, surrounded by mountains. In the summer, the bay offers excel ...

and invited such colleagues as Jason Reeves and

, who co-produced her first album, ''Coco'', as well as experimented working with new songwriters and producers such as

John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

and

. According to the singer, "We'd go out boogie-boarding and then come back and write songs. ..We just wanted to be inspired by everything." In total, Caillat worked with them in over 40 songs between 2008 and 2009.

Themes and inspiration

''Breakthrough'' was defined as an album about growing up, experiencing life, love, making mistakes and learning from them, with particular emphasis on love and making mistakes, with "most of the mistakes Caillat chronicles have to do with matters of the heart", as noted by

Plugged In Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations ...

's Adam R. Holz. Caillat stated that she "wanted to make music that people could listen to while driving on a long road trip, while dancing at a party with friends, while laying out at the beach or sitting at their desk at work. I wanted to give people songs that they could fall in love to, lay down & cry to, songs & stories that they can relate to so they feel like they aren't the only ones going through whatever it is they are going through in life. Music is for you to listen to & forget about your worries. These songs can mean whatever you want them to mean, they are now yours." She further elaborated over the album's themes and the inspiration behind it, explaining:

"I recently learned something about myself. For a lot of us, when life gets hard to deal with & keep up with, it becomes easier to give up on & let go of. I found myself doing that a lot & I was slowly falling apart. But...I woke up from it. I realized I wasn't happy settling for less or letting myself become someone I wasn't supposed to be due to laziness. I had to Breakthrough my fears, my insecurities & my self doubt. There are so many battles that we all have to go through in life that are for us to learn from, we grow stronger from them. I just learned this. I want to remind myself & everyone out there that we have to Breakthrough all the little things we tell ourselves we can't do because we are scared, & just step up & do them. This record is about becoming the person you want to be, having will power & letting nothing hold you back. So try not to let great things pass you by, start making things happen that you really want in life!."

Composition and lyrical content

Most songs present on ''Breakthrough'' "delves into the details of romance gone awry", featuring some songs about breaking up and why "lasting love seems so elusive". On the album's first song, "I Won't", which was considered "a crisp, breathy tune that emphasizes her nuanced style," Caillat refuses to take an ex's advice to forget him, singing: "I don't wanna pretend you're not my lover." The second track, "Begin Again", "pines for a second chance when Colbie realizes in retrospect how good a relationship actually was." The song's chorus introduces some vocal syncopation and vulnerability. "You Got Me" and " Fallin' for You" were considered "innocent love songs" that "capture the breathless first blush of infatuation", with the former featuring quirky organ rhythm and a "string-laden lush pop chorus that adds horns the second time around" and the latter has a midtempo gently rocking beat. "Rainbow" has "gospel tinges near the end" with some "understated backing vocals". "Droplets" and "Runnin' Around" finds Caillat getting cold feet, with the former being a duet with Jason Reeves and the latter having an "airy '

Everybody Wants to Rule the World "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury ...

' vibe." In " I Never Told You", the lyrical content is about a woman's confession of how deeply she felt for a guy who left her—words she apparently never spoke, with the singer lamenting: "I never told you/What I should have said... Now I miss everything about you". "Fearless" has an electronic beat and finds the singer "clinging to her

self-respect Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...

as a former

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

walks away, while "It Stops Today" "focuses on intentionally facing our deepest hurts." The final track on the standard edition, "Breakin' at the Cracks" was considered "the most mournfully earnest song here, as herepeatedly pleads, 'I need you back'."

Promotion

Colbie Caillat playing in Paradiso, Amsterdam 03

To promote the album, Caillat performed on

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late N ...

and

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during the week of the album's release. Caillat performed the album's first single "Fallin' for You" in many television shows, as well as a set on '' CNN.com Live'' and

Walmart Soundcheck Walmart Soundcheck was a series of musical performances and interviews released exclusively by Walmart, starting in 2006. Each recording consisted of a four-to-six-song set performed live, plus an interview, and was released as a digital album as ...

. She also performed "I Never Told You", the album's second single, on

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lea ...

. Several songs from the album were featured on many TV series and

film soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s. "You Got Me" was featured on the films ''

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'' (2010) and ''

Letters to Juliet ''Letters to Juliet'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero. This was the final film of director Gary Winick before his death on February ...

'' (2010), and also on the TV series '' Melrose Place'', while "I Won't" was featured on the TV series ''

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'' and ''

Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...

''. "Don't Hold Me Down" was featured in the film ''

Morning Glory Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose current taxonomy and systematics are in flux. Morning glory species belong to many genera, some of ...

'' (2010), while the instrumental of "Begin Again" was used on the TV series ''

Life Unexpected ''Life Unexpected'' is an American teen drama television series that aired for two seasons from January 18, 2010 to January 18, 2011. It was produced by Best Day Ever Productions and Mojo Films in association with CBS Productions and Warner Br ...

''. Meanwhile, "Fallin' For You" was on the soundtrack of the film ''

The Back-Up Plan ''The Back-up Plan'' (previously known as ''Plan B'') is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Alan Poul, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin.Siegel, Tatiana, and Michael Fleming"Jennifer Lopez going with 'Plan B': CBS Films ...

'' (2010) and of the Brazilian telenovela ''

Viver a Vida ''Viver a Vida'' (literally: Living Life, English title: ''Seize the Day'') is a Brazilian telenovela broadcast by Globo from September 14, 2009 to May 14, 2010. It is written by Manoel Carlos in collaboration with Ângela Chaves, Cláudia Lage, ...

'' and was also featured on the TV series '' Ghost Whisperer'', while "I Never Told You" was also featured on the series ''Pretty Little Liars''. To further promote the album, Caillat embarked on the Breakthrough World Tour starting September 17, 2009 and ending in 2010.

Singles

The album's lead-single " Fallin' for You" was released on June 29, 2009. The "lilting" mid-tempo ballad "features an instantly catchy chorus and toe tapping melody," as defined by Melinda Newman of

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

. It achieved chart success in the United States, reaching number twelve on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

, her second highest charting single and her highest debut with 118,000 first-week downloads, spending fourteen weeks at number two on the

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

and topping the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. Elsewhere, it reached the top-twenty in four other countries and top-forty in the remaining territories. Initially, "Begin Again" and "You Got Me" were under consideration to be the album's second single, however " I Never Told You" was released instead on February 16, 2010. It reached number forty-eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was more successful on the Adult Pop Songs, where it peaked at number three, and on the Adult Contemporary, reaching number eleven. "Fearless" was Caillat's personal choice for the third single, however it was never released.

Critical reception

''Breakthrough'' received mixed to average reviews from contemporary music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 57 based on 8 reviews. In a very positive review, Michael Lello of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

noted that on the album Caillat "wisely builds upon her strengths— the aforementioned disciplined singing approach and girly topics— rather than enter drastic new territory." He praised the album's consistency and its producers, which according to him, "results in a richly textured album, not just a collection of radio-baiting singles, that retains the performer's personality." Monica Herrera wrote for '' Billboard'' that the album is "warm and inviting", however noted that it "never quite lives up to its title, but highlighted the song "Fearless" for diverging from the formula and offering "delightful relief" and "a taste of what could be if the singer were to dig deeper."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave a favorable review for the album and a three-out-of-five-stars rating, noting that it "isn't meant to catapult Caillat into a mainstream that already knows her, but to consolidate her success," calling it "a creation that's slicker and sleeker than the debut, but fortunately, it's not quite at the expense of Caillat's simple charms." Bill Lamb, in his review for

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, was in agreement with Herrera and Erlewine, declaring that the title "may be a bit confusing to some listeners. It seems to carry the connotation of reaching in a new direction or depicting a new level of achievement for the artist. Instead ..th album seems primarily an effort to consolidate Colbie Caillat's existing fan base." Lamb however noted that the album is "a little slicker, a little more polished" than its predecessor and the "final result is remarkably slick, cohesive and similar sounding, but that isn't always a great thing." Jim Farber of '' New York Daily News'' noted that "Caillat's sweet old-fashioned melodies are no 'Breakthrough,' but second album still charms." '' Q'' magazine called it " rdly essential, but brimming with late summery charms," while Trey Spencer of Sputnikmusic was more positive, writing 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." Spencer also praised the songs that "feel more developed than anything from her past." The album also received some more mixed reviews. While noting that Caillat has a fine voice and that she can write hooks, Jody Rosen of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' was critical of Caillat's "lovelorn" persona, opining that she "fails to convince as a romantic heroine." Though being critical with Caillat's songwriting skills, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine considered the album "a marginal improvement over her debut, Coco. At the very least, there’s nothing as stomach-turning as ' Bubbly' here, so by that measure, the album lives up to its title." In contrast, ''Breakthrough'' was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

at the 52nd edition, becoming her first nomination in the category.

Commercial performance

''Breakthrough'' debuted at number-one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 106,000 copies, becoming her first album to debut at the top and an improvement of the first week sales of her debut album ''Coco'' (2007), which started at number five with only 51,000 copies. It was also

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

's sixth consecutive number-one album to debut at the top. It was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album debuted at number five, becoming her first album to debut at the top-ten and her highest also. It was also her first and only album so far to reach the top-ten in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Colbie Caillat albums Albums produced by Greg Wells Albums produced by John Shanks Albums produced by Ken Caillat Albums produced by Rick Nowels Universal Republic Records albums