Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Season 5 of The Voice begins Monday night at 8 p.m. on NBC. Check back for live blogs during each show and for bios of contestants who land a spot in the competition.

Meanwhile, it’s time to catch up with some familiar faces from past seasons, with the focus on those who have released music recently. Samuel Mouton, of Fort Collins, Colorado, was 19 when he auditioned for Season 3 of The Voice.

Before The Voice: Samuel was cooking pizza and washing dishes at two family restaurants and told The Voice, “as much as I love to cook, I don’t want to do it for the rest of my life.” He was hoping to follow in the musical footsteps of his dad and uncle, members of a reggae band called Roots.

On The Voice: He auditioned with “The Redemption Song,” prompting everyone but Blake Shelton to spin their chairs. He joined Team Adam, but lost to Joe Kirkland, lead singer of Artist vs. Poet, in the battle round.

Since The Voice: In mid-August, Samuel had the honor of opening the NewWestFest in his hometown of Fort Collins, an event that featured rock and roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell. Just days later, he released his nine-track debut album, “Paradise,” which includes the track you can listen to below. Writes Samuel on his website: ‘When I got dropped from The Voice, I went back to my notebook. Burying myself in the words on a mission to combine the two worlds of my roots — hip-hop and acoustic alternative. I am still on that mission and will not stop until I have spread the love across the globe.”

Keeping up with Samuel: On Twitter, he is simply @SamuelMouton. Here are the links for his Facebook page and website.

Samuel Mouton, “Lying Next to You”