Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Recent post-Voice music includes a debut EP from Season 14 winner Brynn Cartelli.

Also out are new singles from Addison Agen, Elenowen, Caroline Sky, Brother Bird and Austin Giorgio.

Here’s a bit about each of those releases. As usual, the links take you to the songs on Apple Music.

* Brynn Cartelli, the Season 14 champ, dropped her debut EP, “Based on a True Story,” on Friday. And fans must like what they’re hearing. The EP was still number 19 on Apple Music’s overall albums chart and number five on its pop albums chart 24 hours after its release. Brynn calls the EP an “introduction to who I’ve always been, and an invitation to where I will go. My deepest secrets and darkest fears, fairy tales and high school heartbreaks. All for you to take in as your own.” She settled on the title because … well, “based on a true story” is an apt beginning for an autobiography. And, during an interview with Kelly Clarkson, Brynn noted that the acronym for the EP is “BOATS.” Brynn found that hilarious. Just 15 when she won the show, Brynn is now 18. Standout tracks include “If I Could” and “Imaginary Stranger.”

* Addison Agen, the Season 13 runner-up, recently released “Floating,” the third single from her upcoming debut album. She calls it a song about accepting and finding joy in where you’re at. That album, “When Morning Comes,” is set for release this summer. And Addison is promoting an album release show set for Friday, June 11, in her hometown of Fort Wayne. “Floating” followed “My Kitchen Floor” and “Still Yours” as the third song she’s dropped from the album.

* Elenowen, the husband-wife duo of Josh and Nicole Johnson, from Season 1 released “Nightmare Lover” on Friday. Explains Josh: “Wrote this with @sontalkmusic as a response to someone trying to run away from problems in a relationship, specifically by checking out and sleeping as much as possible to escape the anxiety and reality they’re faced with.” It follows let it all go as the second single this year from Elenowen.

* Caroline Sky from Season 12 released “White Lace” on Friday. She jokingly refers to it as her anti-marriage anthem. Caroline auditioned for American Idol Season 19 and made it all the way to the Top 40, but we never saw her on the show. “Although it’s very frustrating to have made it that far and to not have been aired, I’m endlessly grateful for this once in a lifetime experience,” she writes on Instagram. “White Lace” follows “Company” as Caroline’s second single of 2021.

* Austin Giorgio from Season 14 has released a pair of songs this month, “Your Innocence” and “Looking For,” which just dropped Friday. You might recall Austin as a fan of the crooners, like Frank Sinatra. In fact, he followed up his appearance on The Voice with an album called “Crooner” in 2019. Austin says he’d been waiting six months to release “Your Innocence,” which started as a poem, but evolved into a song in the span of 12 days.

* Brother Bird (aka Caroline Glaser from Season 4) and Tim Bruns have released a pair of collaborations, “Everything is Fine” and “Quiet & Cold.” Tim says the former is “probably my favorite song written during the quarantine. @brotherbird_ and I did the whole thing over zoom and I’m so pumped on how it turned out!” There’s a music video too. “Quiet & Cold,” meanwhile, was featured in a recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy.