Idol Chatter & Voice Views

New post-Voice music out this week includes country singles from Todd Tilghman, JessLee and Casi Joy.

Here’s a bit about each of those releases.

The links take you to the songs on Apple Music. Or you can check out the Spotify snippets below.

Todd Tilghman, winner of The Voice Season 18, released “Jesus and You” on Friday. An accompanying music video will follow next Friday. It follows “In a Heartache” as the second post-Voice single from Todd, a pastor from Meridian, Mississippi, who auditioned for the show at age 41. He wrote the song — or in his humble words, add a couple of little tidbits — with Gordon Mote and Phil O’Donnell, and Todd said it’s one of his wife’s favorites. Todd says it’s “a song about why I do the things I do. But it’s also about the things that play the most pivotal roles in my life. So of course it’s Jesus. And of course it’s my family.” As for the upcoming video, it was shot in Meridian. Explains Todd: “One of the main things that made me who I am is my hometown. So I hope you see that Meridian is not only a backdrop but also a really pivotal character.”

JessLee from Season 14 has a new single out called “Strong” and a new EP called “21 Jump Start.” “’Strong’ really is the concoction of the things I have gone through in my life,” JessLee told Taste of Country. “For a long part of my life, I felt isolated and belittled and never felt like I was enough. I’ve fallen in love with being strong, not just physically but mentally. Telling yourself you are going to do something and the only person that is going to stop you is you? Well, that’s powerful. And if my story can help just one person realize that, I will have done what I wanted to do.” As for the EP, it hit number 5 on the iTunes country albums chart, something that’s thrilled JessLee because it’s the first project she’s co-produced. It’s also includes a cover of “The Climb.”

Casi Joy from Season 12 released a fun song called “The Money” on Friday. It’s about not needing too much to be happy. But needing enough to survive. Writes Casi: “I have been saving this song since the beginning of quarantine when the world changed for us all and things started to become more and more about #TheMoney.”