Photo: Chris White

First off, I’d like to thank all of you for making “New Music Monday” so popular. Some of these posts are among the top five most read on my blog. For that, I’m very thankful to you my loyal readers! There is plenty more to come in the new year. Click here to look back on all your favorite “NMM” posts.

And now, for my final “New Music Monday” post of 2013, I’m featuring Candice Glover.

Glover is the current winner of “American Idol” and has been doing well since being crowned the champ. She went on tour with her fellow “Idol” finalists this summer and worked on her debut album – Music Speaks – which is due out in February. Her first single off the album – “I Am Beautiful” – reached No. 33 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100 just in its first week.

A second single off Music Speaks – “Cried” – was released in November. The song is a completely different animal than “I Am Beautiful.” It’s definitely a tear jerker as Glover pours out her heart in the song. So far, the song has been sent to urban radio and picked up by a few stations. I’m not a music manager nor do I own a record label but I believe this song should get a lot more airplay. This has heart and soul in it, something lacking in a lot of today’s mainstream music.