Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The musical surprises just keep coming from former Idols this month.

Available today: An EP of cover songs from the duo of Jack and White, meaning Jack Matranga and Brooke White.

These two got together a couple of years ago to write a song for what was supposed to be Brooke’s second album.

Since then, they’ve released three EPs together, this being their third.

Back in March, when plans for this EP were announced, Season 7 contestant Brooke said they’d be including one tune from each decade from the 1960s on.

They’ve pretty much stuck to that format, with “California Dreamin'” from the 1960s, ELO’s “Telephone Line” from the 1970s, the Eurythmics “Here Comes the Rain” from the 1980s, Third Eye Blind’s “How’s It Going to Be” from the 1990s, and the Black Keys’ “Tighten Up.”

The pattern’s jarred a bit by the inclusion of “Cry Me a River,” the fifth track, which was first recorded in the 1950s. But, hey, it was covered in 2009 by Michael Buble, so I guess it fits.

Anyway, I like the fact that the duo didn’t pick the most obvious songs to cover. And they sound great together, pretty much regardless of what they sing.

Oh, and this EP comes just days after the birth of Brooke’s first child. She and her husband welcomed a daughter, London, on Thursday.