Idol Chatter & Voice Views

You might say Alex Preston took a different approach to his debut album.

Instead of heading off to a recording studio, he rented a small, secluded cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains and started writing.

“It really helped to be secluded and alone instead of in a big studio with people I don’t know,” Alex told NewHampshire.com. “I wrote about half of the album at the cabin, driven by the seclusion and where I was at that time emotionally.”

And it appears to have worked.

On Saturday, four days after the release of his self-titled album, it was still sitting at number 23 on the iTunes singer-songwriter chart.

Alex gave us an idea of what to expect when he launched a fine debut single called “Break My Heart.”

But it’s far from the only standout track on the album. Others you should check out include “You,” “200 Miles” and a ballad called “The Light was Already Here.”

The album includes 13 tracks, including two versions of “Fairytales,” a song Alex introduced us to en route to a third place finish on Season 13 of American Idol.

Alex had always planned to write his post-Idol debut in seclusion. He announced those plans when he launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the project.

But at the time, he figured he’d release an EP, not a full album. That was before the Kickstarter campaign raised more than twice his original goal of $5,000.

Now Alex, 22, is preparing for an album release show, set for Saturday, Aug. 1, at the Place Theatre in Manchester, N.H.

He’ll also be singing the national anthem before a Red Sox game at Fenway Park on Aug. 14.

For more on his future plans, check out his interview with NewHampshire.com.

Now, check out some of the songs from the album.