I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but the only “American Idol” season I ever watched from start to finish was Season 5. That season had a pretty strong set of contenders, including eventual winner Taylor “SOUL PATROOOOOOOLLL” Hicks, Katharine McPhee (who apparently is being introduced via NBC six years later), Chris Daughtry, and third place finisher Elliott Yamin.
The Virginia native, to my ears, was the most talented of the contestants. Anyone who can convincingly tackle “A Song For You” immediately gets props from me. Elliott scored a hit out of the gate with “Wait For You”, but hasn’t reached the same heights since. He even released an album overseas called Gather Round that unfortunately didn’t see the light of day in the U.S.
At any rate, Elliott is back. He’s got a new album coming soon, and the first single from it is called “3 Words.” It’s more or less right in Elliott’s pocket-midtempo pop with soul underpinnings. While I wish dude would just cut loose and make a straight-up soul album (put him in the studio with Ne-Yo and Raphael Saadiq and the resulting LP would be a home run of monster proportions) this is pretty good as far as Top 40/adult contemporary radio fare goes.
The video is kinda “eh…” I mean, Elliott emotes while four cheekbones do some interpretive dance and apparently break up. However, the song’s certainly worth your time. Look for more on Elliott on these pages as album plans develop.