Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Two years ago, Holly Henry provided one of the blind audition highlights on The Voice — both because of her enchanting version of “The Scientist” and her genuinely awestruck reaction as all four superstar coaches turned their chairs for that performance.

At the time, she was a 19-year-old songwriter who seldom shared that gift in public, worked at a pancake house and posted an occasional cover to YouTube.

Today?

Holly Henry has more than 29,000 followers on Twitter, more than 43,000 fans on Facebook, nearly 200,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel and nearly 16 million views for her videos there.

Oh, she’s also released a single and a pair of EPs — all songs she wrote.

The latest EP, “The Orchard,” hit iTunes late last month, partly funded by devoted fans through an Indiegogo campaign.

And judging from the video that launched that campaign, the 21-year-old is still every bit as unassuming as she was the day she stepped on The Voice stage for the first time.

Holly released her first EP, “The Immigrant,” just a couple of months after being eliminated from The Voice in Season 5’s knockout round.

When it came time to make “The Orchard,” Holly says she had the benefit of more time, more money and a clearer vision for the project.

“I feel it (‘The Orchard’) is more what my music truly is whereas ‘The Immigrant’ was more like an acoustic performance of my songs,” she says.

Regardless, the 11 songs on the two EPs have this in common — a distinct sound that Holly admits is most often described as “haunting.”

“I like the word haunting quite a lot,” she says. “I would like to consider my music very melodic, dreamy, and truthful.”

That’s certainly the case with “Better,” one of the standout tracks on the new EP. It’s a song about Holly’s struggles with anxiety, which she describes as “a huge part of my everyday living.”

is about that weird mindset you have as you begin to recover,” Holly says. “You’re happy that it’s finally over, scared it might come back, embarrassed that it happened at all, and you try to be in the moment and live while you feel normal.

“Maybe not a lot of people experience this mentality, but for those that do, I hope it helps them a little bit.”

She says her favorite song on the new EP is the title track.

“I actually wrote the song ‘The Orchard’ a year and a half before I released it,” she says. “All I had in mind was the melody line and lyrics, which some would say is not the best way to enter the studio. But in my opinion a blank canvas is perfect. It allows for so much more fun and creativity.

“We took that little song and spent days building stuff around it and adding little things here and there until it felt perfect. It is my favorite song on the EP, which I find kind of cool seeing as it was only a little ditty when I brought it to record.”

The EP includes six new songs. “Skin” is my personal favorite. In her Indiegogo pitch, Holly said she’s also especially excited about “Foolish Heart,” the closest to “pop” she’s come to date, with lyrics that are “less strange and cryptic.”

“BUT don’t let that scare you,” she wrote to her supporters. “You know me, I hate writing something that sounds like anything else.”

Looking back at her time on The Voice, Holly says the biggest thing she learned was to face her fears.

for the future …

Well, she still lives in Minneapolis, says she loves it there and doubts she’ll leave anytime soon.

She no longer works at a pancake house. “Fortunately, I am free to focus completely on music. Unfortunately, free pancakes aren’t a daily occurrence anymore.”

And there will be more music, of course — music she no longer hesitates to share.

“I would love to release a full-length album soon,” she says. “I am writing and inspired every day and can’t wait to put more into the world.”

Check back Monday night as coverage of Season 9 of The Voice begins. For a look at other music released this year by former contestants, head here for albums and EPs and here for singles.