The winner of season 17 of The Voice Jake Hoot has finally dipped his toe into the mainstream country music scene with the release of his debut EP ‘Love Out of Time’, which dropped Wednesday. Hoot is the latest in a long line of Voice alum who have tried to break out in country music. Will he be as big as Cassadee Pope or will he fade away like many others? With the help of his coach Kelly Clarkson, he has a legitimate shot of success.
Let’s start with the literal influence Clarkson has on this EP, a duet called ‘I Would’ve Loved You’. This is hands down the best song on this collection and will hopefully join ‘Don’t You Wanna Stay’ on Clarkson’s list of fantastic country duets. It is well-written and wonderfully toes the line of anger and pain of a person who has given so much to a relationship only to have their heart broken. Just when you think the song is over, it kicks into high gear for a powerful finale that would make a great conclusion to a concert one day.
The other “duet” on this record, which is basically fellow Voice contestant Ricky Duran on barely recognizable harmonies, is a cover of the classic ‘La Bamba’. One might be thinking “what is a country boy doing singing ‘La Bamba’?” Well, casual listeners may not know that Hoot is actually fluent in Spanish after living in the Dominican Republic for a decade. His skills shine on this song and it comes off as completely authentic, even though Spanish is not his primary language. ‘La Bamba’ is always a good hype song and will be perfect to energize the crowd in concert at some point.
‘Love Out of Time’ shows the massive potential that Jake Hoot has as a country star. What he needs to do is pick great songs like ‘I Would’ve Loved You’ or title track ‘Love Out of Time’ if he wants to find success in the genre. To listen to ‘Love Out of Time’ click here.
