Idol Chatter & Voice Views

New post-Voice music includes singles from Jackie Foster and Madilyn Paige and collaborations featuring Jessica Childress and Timothy Atlas.

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.

* Jessica Childress from Season 4 is the featured vocalist on a powerful new single called “Oh Mother” from Kan Wankan. Writes Jessica on Instagram: “This song was written against the backdrop of a global pandemic and a global reckoning on race that I’d never witnessed before. The video of George Floyd’s murder was ubiquitous and so many other cases of police violence toward black bodies were circulating. LA poured into the streets by the tens of thousands, risking their safety and security to chant Say His Name … When I first heard the track it was guitar bass drum and it felt like a tribal dirge, raw and visceral. The song is a prayer to the ancestors for healing in a moment of complete loss. I sat in the recognition that as a nation we had been there before, so many times. Marched. Wept. Screamed. Grieved. And I know we will be there again. The cycle seems unavoidable and that feels untenable. So in the middle of all this pain we cry for help.”

* Jackie Foster from Season 14 is back with a song called “Clearer,” more somber in tone than her recent releases. She wrote the ballad two years ago, but never released it. Brandon Diaz, Ryan Nealon and Gray Trainer are listed as co-writers. “It’s about clarity, and how we need to take a breath and pause to see things clearly. I don’t think there can be a better message to share right now,” she told the Poway News back in November, referring to the pandemic. Jackie also released an accompanying music video on Friday.

* Madilyn Paige from Season 6 released “Excuses” last Friday. It’s a song about breaking off a relationship she hoped not to have to. Madilyn wrote the song with Aaron Kellim and Jay Denton. She says the song was “inspired by personal relationships and break ups, and turned into this anthem. Heartache turned into self empowerment.” There’s also a matching music video. It’s already Madilyn’s third single of 2021.

* Timothy Atlas from Season 9 has teamed up with the duo Slenderbodies to deliver another piece of mellow pop. The song is called “Focus” and dropped last Wednesday. The song had been streamed 50,000 times in just two days, judging from Slenderbodies Instagram. It’s one of several recent collaborations for Tim. He teamed up with Kartell on a song called “Stay” and with Dolly Ave on one called “Occupied.” Both of those dropped last month.