Idol Chatter & Voice Views

New post-Voice music out includes a pandemic parody courtesy of former finalist Chris Mann and an EP of covers from Top 6 standout MaKenzie Thomas.

In addition, new covers are out featuring Season 1 champ Javier Colon, Terisa Griffin and Liam St. John.

Here’s a look at each of those releases.

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

* Chris Mann from Season 2 has spent part of the pandemic recording COVID parodies, starting with “My Corona” to the tune of The Knack’s “My Sharona.” But he’d taken a break recently. Which is understandable considering he and wife Laura recently welcomed their second son (Rocky Conor Mann, born Jan. 11). But now daddy is back at it. And, appropriately enough, his new parody is “Quarantine Baby,” all about the consequences of getting randy during the pandemic, to the tune of Harry Styles “Watermelon Sugar.” There’s even a music video. For those who missed it, Chris released a full album of parodies back in September called “Viral/Viral Vol. 1.” Which tells me he doesn’t intend to stop making us smile once in a while as the pandemic drags on and on.

* MaKenzie Thomas from Season 15 recently released “Note for Note,” a six-track EP of covers. It features MaKenzie’s versions of a mix of classic and more current songs, from “If I Were Your Woman” to Lady Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way.” MaKenzie, top 6 on the show, also recently released an original called “Cream.”

* Javier Colon, the Season 1 champ, is featured on the first single off the new album coming from renown saxophonist Michael Lington. They covered “Baker Street,” the 1978 hit by Gerry Rafferty. You can check out the video here. Lington says he started working on the album — “Alone Together,” coming March 26 — once the pandemic shut down his tour plans.

* Terisa Griffin from Season 3 covers “Angel,” the Aretha Franklin classic, on a complication album called Soul Sessions from Platinum Vybe Music. It’s described as an album “comprising some of today’s most popular indie artists and some of the best up-and-coming talent in soul who deserve to be heard.” There’s a lyric video too.

* Liam St. John, from Season 19, released a cover of Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Wrote Liam on Instagram: “Where would we be without Etta James? Thank you for requesting this song, it is one of my favorites.”