Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Three years after finishing second on American Idol Season 13, Jena Irene Asciutto has released her debut album.

And if there’s one thing that comes through loud and clear when listening to the 14 tracks, it’s that Jena has done a lot of growing up since appearing on the show at age 17.

She sings about losing her virginity on “Innocence.” She sings about her fondness for pot on “So I Get High.” She drops f-bombs liberally as part of her song-writing.

On Artists Direct, she calls “Cold Fame” a concept album. The first half is somber, melancholy in tone. In the latter half, she celebrates self-acceptance.

“The one constant thing I want people to take away from it is that it’s all me,” Jena told MLive last week. “It’s very bare and very truthful. It’s just the story of girl turning into a woman.”

“Innocence” was featured on Jena’s 2016 EP of the same name and is repeated on the album. It made my list of Top 10 post-American Idol songs from 2016.

Among the new songs on “Cold Fame,” the ballad “Loneliness” is a first-half highlight. Up-tempo second-half highlights include “Bitch Me Out” and the retro-sounding “White Girl Wasted,” which Jena introduces by coyly saying “somebody told me to write a single.”

“A lot of the songwriting that was done on the album was the result of me being very pissed off,” Jena told MLive. “Or discovering a new part of myself that someone didn’t agree with or accept. That’s when I get most inspired and need to get something out into a song rather than just trying to fish for ideas.”

“Cold Fame” climbed into the Top 20 on the iTunes pop albums chart the day of its release (June 2), but has since disappeared. We’ll find out next week whether it cracked the Billboard 200.