Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Koryn Hawthorne, the fourth-place finisher from The Voice Season 8

Her debut single, “Won’t He Do It,” wound up setting a record for longest run atop the Billboard gospel chart at 40 weeks.

Her debut album, “Unstoppable,” released in 2018, also hit number one on the gospel charts and was earned Koryn a Dove Award for best contemporary gospel album.

And, though she didn’t win, she was twice nominated for Grammys for songs from that album, “Won’t He Do It” in 2019 and “Speak the Name” this year.

Now Koryn is back with a new single, “Pray.” And it’s the lead single off her sophomore album, “I Am,” scheduled for release this fall.

Koryn, 16 when she auditioned for The Voice and 22 now, co-wrote “Pray” with Troy Taylor, Jeremy Hicks, and Daniel Breland.

“It’s been quite a while since I released new music,” she noted in an Instagram message to fans. “I’m super excited for you all to hear what I’ve been working on. I’m super excited for you all to hear what God has blessed up with.”

And while a song that presses home the importance of prayer to get through difficult times seems especially timely now, with a pandemic raging and protests occurring across the country, things weren’t quite a turbulent when the song was written.

Koryn said the song was written in December and she was thrilled to be working with Breland, whom she’d heard so much about.

Breland called working with Koryn one of his favorite experiences as a songwriter.

Here’s the music video for “Pray.”