Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Jackie Foster and D.R. King from The Voice Season 14 teamed up on the 2018 single Love Is a Drug.

So when D.R. prepared to release his first post-Voice single, it only seemed natural to dial up his friend from the show to see if they could strike music magic a second time.

They did on “Love is a Drug,” a song D.R. wrote with Brielle Brown and Marc Swersky. Talk about a power ballad courtesy of two powerful vocalists.

The song will also be on D.R.’s upcoming EP, “It’s My Life.” D.R., Top 12 on Season 14, has since released a second song called “Gravedigger” — and an accompanying music video — from that project.

As for Jackie, her pre-Voice band has been renamed Jackie Foster and The Self Portraits to take advantage of the name recognition that comes with a Top 8 finish on The Voice.

They’ve relocated from Boston to L.A. — Berklee grad Jackie played her last Boston show at a charity event last month — and they’ve also released a single called “Poison.”

Here’s the lyric video for “Love is a Drug.” And this one comes with an explicit lyric warning, so head along to the next song if seeing and hearing that is going to offend you.

Editor’s Note: By my count, former contestants from The Voice released more than 70 albums or EPs, more than 90 music videos and more than 800 original songs in 2018.

This week, I’m featuring my favorites, spotlighting what I’m calling the Top 5 music videos, Top 20 songs and Top 5 albums/EPs.

I hesitate to call them the best because that’s very subjective. Besides, I easily could have made each of these lists five times as long and still omitted lots and lots of great music.

That’s why I grit my teeth when Marshmellow or Ann-Marie or even a coach or advisor winds up with a guest performance spot on The Voice. I’ll never understand why the show doesn’t do more to promote its alumni.

Ah, but this isn’t a time for griping. It’s time to celebrate the accomplishments of talented artists.

I’ve also posted a complete list of post-Voice singles, albums and EPs, with links for your listening pleasure. And a blog with all 90-plus music videos. Please, check them out. Find your own favorites.

And if I’ve missed anyone, let me know. Stage names change. Side projects are created. Tracking the output of 600 post-Voice artists … well, I’ll be shocked if I didn’t miss someone. Just let me know by commenting below or emailing VoiceViews@comcast.net. In terms of singles, my goal is to list any where the former contestant is the primary vocalist.

Coming tomorrow: The Top 5 post-Voice albums of 2018.

Happy listening.

Top songs (not ranked)

Adanna Duru, “Doll”
Amanda Brown, “Take a Pill”
Amy Vachal, “Wait”
Austin Jenckes, “In My Head”
Brian Nhira, “‘Til Death Do Us Part”

Cartelli, “Last Night’s Mascara”
Chloe Kohanski, “Come This Far”
Christiana Danielle, “Resignation”
Darby, “Save a Thought for Me”
Domo, “Currency”

D.R. King & Jackie Foster, “Love is a Drug”
Jamie Lono, “New Orleans”
Johnny Gates, “Brooklyn Nights”
Koryn Hawthorne, “Down Goes Rome”
Loren Allred, “Never Enough”

Matt McAndrew, “Game Over”
Natalie Stovall, “Making Out in Cars”
RaeLynn, “Queens Don’t”
Riley Biederer, “Heartbreak Back”
We McDonald, “Head Up High”

Top Videos

1. Faultlines (Ashley Morgan), “Rain”
2. Sawyer Fredericks, “Hide Your Ghost”
3. Darby, “Play Pretend”
4. Brian Nhira, “Is This Love?”
5. Dawson Coyle, “Saturn”

All 2018 music videos
All 2018 albums and EPs
All 2018 singles