Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Sawyer Fredericks performs “Take It All” on The Voice last week. (NBC Photo)

That doesn’t sound as impressive as his performance on iTunes. His EP was number five on the albums chart there as of noon last Thursday, the day after he performed the lead single on The Voice.

But because the EP arrived as something of a surprise and was released mid-week, this might be a rare instance in which a new release rises on the Billboard 200 in its second week on the chart.

As of this morning, Sawyer was still at number 19 on the iTunes chart with his four-track, self-titled EP.

In an interview with Reality Rocks, Sawyer said his label decided to release the EP now because his fans had been “waiting for a little while and they’re really excited to hear my new music. And I wanted to be able to give them some songs to listen to.”

More Sawyer music is on the way. He’s hoping to release a full-length album in early spring and a video for that single — “Take It All” — sometime soon.

He had a hand in writing all four tracks on the EP and says it’s his intention that the album be all original material as well.

In the interview, Sawyer said the label had suggested a couple of covers for the EP, but that he didn’t see the point in that because he had original material he was eager to get to fans.

The Season 9 winner also talked to Idolator about the approach Republic Records is taking with his new music.

“I did all of the writing for the album, and once they heard the album they wanted to really introduce me as a new artist, not just as The Voice winner,” he told the site. “They want to get my music out immediately, so that’s why they’re splitting the two releases up with an EP out now, and the album coming out in early spring.”

For those who like to make comparisons, at least five The Voice artists have debuted higher on the Billboard 200. Melanie Martinez hit number 6 with “Cry Baby” earlier this year, but actually sold fewer copies than Cassadee Pope when she hit number 9 with her debut album, “Frame by Frame,” back in 2013.

Other chart debuts from former The Voice contestants include Danielle Bradbery at number 19 with her self-titled debut album, The Swon Brothers at number 26 with their debut release and Tessanne Chin at number 41 with her “Count on My Love” album.

Oh, and you’ll recall that Sawyer didn’t exactly embrace the limelight immediately after winning Season 8, saying he couldn’t wait to get back to his family farm in Fultonville, N.Y.

Sawyer told Reality Rocks “I still enjoy being home a lot and doing the farm chores. It’s very relaxing.”

See also …
Albums and EPs released in 2015 by singers featured on The Voice
Singles released in 2015 by former contestants on The Voice