‘American Idol’ notes: Hear new Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery songs

We’re only going to focus on two artists for our “American Idol” notes today, but the news that we have for each one of them is pretty substantial: new music! Isn’t that what it is all about, in getting an opportunity to hear some new tracks?

We’ll start things off here with season 10 champion Scotty McCreery, who is clearly making a pretty big effort to establish himself as more of an adult country artist. You can almost feel the influences of some of his contemporaries more in his new single “See You Tonight,” and it was a smart move for him with this upcoming new album to start things off with something uptempo rather than diving back into ballad territory. We don’t really know whether Scotty really reinvents anything when it comes to just the basic sound of the song, but the lyrics have a sort of contemporary edge to them that you don’t often hear in country songs. It’s like he is helping to push the genre forward into the 21st century.

Scotty’s song is currently available on iTunes, so be sure to go pick up a copy.

Next, let’s move over to Lee DeWyze, who, along with his new label, Vanguard Records, has uploaded a live studio performance of his new single “Silver Linings.” This track is going to be available on June 11, but if it sounds anything like what it does here, it will definitely be worth the wait. There’s poetry in the lyrics, and you can tell that the season 9 winner is enjoying the opportunity to have more control on the songwriting process.

Lee is definitely continuing to rock the folk sound here, and we almost think of this song as a combination of Fleet Foxes (look them up if you’ve never heard them) and the more-mainstream Mumford & Sons.

If you want to hear a new song from another “American Idol” winner in Kris Allen, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: Scotty McCreery