Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blake Lewis, runner-up on American Idol Season 6, just released a new album.

“Wanderlust Unkown” comes with the help from some American Idol friends … and his mom.

First, those Idol friends.

Casey Abrams from Season 10 plays upright bass on the album.

Elliott Yamin from Season 5 provides vocals on “This Lonely Road,” one of the album’s standout tracks.

And Brandon Rogers from Season 6 co-wrote lead single “Pot of Gold” with Blake, who finished second the same season.

As for his mom, Blake told NerdAlertNews that she provides the chant you’ll hear at the beginning of a song called “Trouble.”

“I get my gift of music from her,” he told the site about his mom, Dinah. “And this is the first time I’ve ever had her on my album.”

Blake added that another reason the album is special to him is that he produced eight of the 10 tracks on his own. He’d served as co-producer on previous projects.

Blake launched an Indiegogo campaign to help fund the project last year.

He described the album this way. “It’s a combination of hip-hop, jazz and soul. And it’s very raw and natural sounding. I went back to what I love, what I grew up listening to and what inspired me to become the vocalist and beatboxer I am today.”

Blake’s previous albums include “Audio Day Dream” (2007), “Heartbreak on Vinyl” (2009) and “Portrait of a Chameleon” (2014).

Here are snippets of my two favorite songs from “Wanderlust Unknown.”