Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Danielle Bradbery has released her sophomore album, I Don’t Believe We’ve Met.

Her sophomore album — and her first since 2013 — was sitting at number two on the iTunes country albums chart 12 hours after its release.

Perhaps more impressively, that album was sitting at number four on the overall albums chart.

The only reason it isn’t number one on the country albums chart is that Chris Stapleton happened to release a new album on the same day.

The only other artists ahead of Danielle on the overall albums chart — U2 and Taylor Swift along with Stapleton.

Pretty impressive stuff.

The new album, for those who haven’t been paying attention, is called “I Don’t Believe We’ve Met.”

It’s so titled because it’s considered an introduction to the real Danielle Bradbery.

Remember, Danielle was just 16 when she auditioned for Season 4 of The Voice. The album that quickly followed her victory was completely filled with songs written by others.

This time around, Danielle wrote or co-wrote seven of the songs on the album, including the addictive lead single “Sway.”

“I wasn’t a part of the writing on that first record,” she told Rolling Stone in an interview published earlier this week. “So I know the feeling of singing something that’s not really you. The whole thing was very much Voice-driven. Afterwards, I wanted to sit down, without all the craziness, and ask myself, ‘Who is Danielle?'”

Her goal with her long-awaited sophomore album? To answer that question.

“When I listen to an artist and they write a crazy life song I’m like, ‘Oh my God! They took the words right out of my mouth.’ I love that feeling, so I wanted to do that, and hopefully I am,” she told Billboard.

Fans are certainly pleased with what they’re hearing. Here’s a sample of the reaction from Danielle’s Facebook page:

Daniel Ashton: “Thank you Danielle for staying true to yourself, your writing and your music! It’s a spectacular piece of work!!”

James Small: “Hell, yeah, been waiting so long for this album and it’s ? I love. It (would) be a great Christmas present for any country fan.”

Brianna Caulkett: I loved you on the voice and I loved your first album. Been waiting 4 years for you to release new music and I’m so happy your new album is finally released. Congrats and thank you for staying true to yourself!”

Danielle decided to celebrate the new album with a series of four release party shows. The Nashville and New York shows have already been held, but she’ll be doing one in Houston on Sunday and another in L.A. next week. More details are available on that Facebook page.

And, woo-hoo, she’ll be returning to The Voice for a performance on Tuesday’s results show.