Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Season 14 of American Idol draws to a close, you might wonder what happened to last year’s cast.

Well, seven of the finalists have already released new music, and two members of the top five are hoping to follow suit before the year is out.

Here’s a rundown of what’s up musicially with the Top 5, plus a list of the others who have released new music in recent months.

Caleb Johnson: He released the ablum “Testify” in August, less than three months after winning Idol, and it wasn’t a sales success. Its first-week sales of 11,000 marked an all-time low for an Idol winner. As a result, Caleb is looking for a new record deal and told Billboard earlier this month that he’s already written 25 songs to choice from for a new album. The video for his song “Fighting Gravity” was released in late March.

Jena Irene: She has signed with a new Detroit record label, Original 1265, with hopes of releasing a debut album later this year. “Her voice is a force of nature, but it’s what she sings that counts,” label co-founder Sarah Clayman said in a media release announcing the signing last month. “She has the songs. We didn’t hesitate to sign her.”

Alex Preston: He’s been working on an album called “Songs from Within,” funded in part by a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $11,000, more than twice its $5,000 goal. He planned to go off alone in the wilderness to write the album. While he’s missed his original target release date — March — he promised new album news this week on his Facebook page.

Sam Woolf: He released a five-track EP called “Pretend” in December. Check out the title track, on which he gets a vocal assist from Cindy Mizelle, and the song called “What More Can I Say.” According to his website, Sam plans to attend Berklee College of Music in the fall.

Jessica Meuse: She released her first post-show single, a song called “Done,” earlier this month. She wrote the country/southern rock tune a couple of years ago, then reworked it for release. “This is me, evolved as an artist from American Idol,” she told a local TV station.

Others:

Ben Briley released a five-track country EP called “Outlier” in December. “Run Outta Road” and “Let Me Come Around” are my favorite tracks.

Dexter Roberts released a four-track EP called “Dream About Me” in March. The closing ballad, “Heaven is a Small Town,” is the highlight.

Emily Piriz release a pop song called “One of These Nights” in November.

M.K. Nobilette released a ballad called “Make Believe” this week.