CUMBRIAN pop talent Jolan is set to release his new EP next week as he builds up to his debut single.

The Voice star from Moor Row, near Whitehaven, is set to launch Patient on Tuesday October 17, featuring two originals and two covers - Unforgettable by French Montana featuring Swae Lee, and Location by Khalid.

It follows on from last autumn's all-covers EP, Parallel.

Then the next big date in his calendar comes in November, with Hold Me Like You Love Me set to hit radio stations and TV channels nationwide.

"The first EP was kind of just my journey from The Voice, but this is totally different - even the covers on this one took me so far out of my comfort zone," says Jolan.

"The covers were picked first, and then we tried to find two originals that worked best with them, because you want an EP to have the songs all connected by a bit of a theme.

"They're very, very recent songs, and the covers I think are still both in the charts, so people are searching for them all the time. It's a good way for a singer to boost their profile and get their name out there, but I want people to hear the original songs mainly."

Having finished as runner-up on BBC talent show The Voice early last year, his mentor on the show - Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson -asked renowned Whitehaven-born pop music producer Brian Higgins if he would let Jolan audition for his company, Xenomania.

When Brian heard that he and Jolan shared a Cumbrian hometown, he was even happier to welcome him to the studios and put him through his paces. Jolan took his chance by recording a number of songs at Xenomania that convinced Virgin EMI Records to give Jolan a record deal.

The result of this collaboration is the Patient EP - seen as a way to reconnect Jolan with his fans from The Voice and prepare everyone for the release of his first proper single.

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Jolan continues: "I've been working with Brian for quite a while now, but it's kind of been a bit of a secret until recently.

"We've put in a lot of work over the last 18 months, and it's been a great experience working with a lot of fantastic people. I never thought I'd get the chance to work with such a big producer like Brian.

"It's been a bit of a funny year for me, because I haven't really done a lot of live stuff at all. Most of the time has been spent in the studio, so it feels like it's gone a bit quiet and people have probably started to forget I'm around.

"The point of this EP is to remind people, and build the interest back up before the single next month."

Those that have pre-ordered the new Patient EP have already been treated to an exclusive download of its title track, but Jolan says that the forthcoming single is set to hold some big surprises.

"The single couldn't be more different to the EP! That's a bit more chilled out, but Hold Me Like You Love Me is a huge, powerful tune, and I think people might be a little bit surprised.

"It was the first proper video I've done - there was one for the song that would have been released had I won The Voice, but this was totally different. You get shown all these storyboards from different directors, and you get to see the cast and how it will look - it's a full production, so it was very weird to be in that position.

"The single was recorded about 12 months ago, and the video was done in January, so I've been sitting on it for quite a while, waiting until the time is right. I'm very, very proud of it.

"The aim is for it to go everywhere, and be played on Radio 1, but everything else depends on what happens with it, I guess. I'm certainly just going to take things one step at a time."

Jolan releases the Patient EP on Tuesday October 17. To pre-order and for an exclusive download, visit jolan.lnk.to/EPPatient9J