Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Three former standouts from The Voice dropped new country singles this week.

That includes Barrett Baber, Lauren Duski and Kaleb Lee, the latter coming with a special vocal assist.

Here’s a look at those new releases.

That links take you to the songs on Apple Music. Or you can check out Spotify snippets below.

* Barrett Baber, Season 10 runner-up, injects a bit of rock and tons of energy into his excellent new country single, “Name It.” “This is what happens when you put a dude from Los Angeles in a room with a dude from Eastern Arkansas!” tweeted Barrett in reference to Curt Chambers, who co-wrote the song. And, yes, Barrett’s the guy from Arkansas. This marks his first single since the release of a fine live album back in May.

* Lauren Duski, Season 12 runner-up, released a song called “Chasing Me.” It’s about the pull music has over her, as she describes in a Instagram post. “I’ve tried to run away from this music thing my whole life,” she writes in part. “I’ve tried to go back to school. Every time I do though, something keeps tapping me on my shoulder saying ‘nope. not yet.’ This song is a great example of why fans should hope she doesn’t succeed in running away. Oh, and it was recorded in a Chicago barthroom, which becomes obvious at the end of the track.

* Kaleb Lee, Top 6 on Season 14, gets a vocal assist from former coach Kelly Clarkson on his latest single, “I Dream Southern.” The tune was written by Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Brandy Clark and is apparently one Kelly suggested he record. “I Dream In Southern is such a great song written by a powerhouse team,” Kaleb says in a press release. “It’s just icing on the cake for Kelly to sing on it.” It’s the fourth single this year from Kaleb, who also performed one of those on Kelly’s new talk show.