Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Koryn Hawthorne from The Voice Season 8 has announced the release date for her sophomore album.

The 10-song collection is available for pre-order on iTunes and pre-save on Apple Music.

And the news comes just as Koryn drops the second song from the album, “Speak to Me,” and an accompanying music video (see below).

Expectations will be high for the new album.

Koryn’s 2018 debut album “Unstoppable” earned her a Dove Award and a pair of Grammy nominations and produced the mega hit “Won’t He Do It,” which set a Billboard record for being number one on its gospel singles chart for 40 consecutive weeks.

Koryn, 22, admitted in an interview with The Atlanta Voice that it’s “a little scary” to be trying to follow up on that amount of success.

But the young woman who placed fourth on The Voice at age 17 says she feels like she’s grown as an artist since “Unstoppable” was recorded, which should translate into a superior sophomore album.

She’s off to a good start. Lead single “Pray” — which seems perfectly suited for these coronavirus times though recorded in December — entered the Billboard gospel digital sales chart at number one.

As for the album’s title, here’s what Koryn told The Atlanta Voice.

“It’s centered around identity and knowing who I am and knowing who God has called me to be,” she said.

“It’s so important for everybody to know who you are. It’s literally the start of anything that you’re trying to do in your life.”

Here’s the music video for Koryn’s newest song, “Speak to Me,” which dropped Friday.