'The Voice' Runner-Up Terry McDermott Releases New Single 'Pictures' (Audio)

Tyler Golden/NBC

Season-three winner Cassadee Pope may have signed with Republic Nashville, but The Voice runner-up Terry McDermott has released his first single since competing on the NBC show -- "Pictures," a contemporary rock ballad that's nostalgic of a past relationship and lost love.

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"Ultimately, it is about those moments that you’re left with after being with somebody you love; those little snapshots that linger in your mind, maybe they’re triggered when you see something that takes you back to that," McDermott tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We’ve just been staggered by the positivity and how well-received the track’s been. I think it’s the right song for the right time."

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The Scottish rocker teamed with friend Todd Burman of Australian rock band Juke Kartel to co-write the song. After posting a premature version online and receiving an overwhelming response (26,000 plays on a single day), McDermott rushed into the studio to have the track properly recorded, mixed, mastered and out to digital retailers -- a usually lengthier process that was shortened, thanks to a fan.

"We knew people were interested and waited for it, so we just put it out there as quick as we could," he explains. Though McDermott expected a special rush request to take at least a day or two, the singer spotted his song online after only three hours.

"One of the reasons I was excited that this song is the leadoff post-The Voice is because it’s not dissimilar to the style that got me to America in the first place: contemporary rock and roll," McDermott continues. 

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McDermott admits that this successful do-it-yourself route of meeting musical demand is steering him away from pitching himself to studios.

"My vision’s always been really to shoot for a series of EPs," he says. "I’ve released a record before on a major label, and I know how tied into that 'releasing a record' cycle can get. I’d like to be a little more adaptable."

He adds: "As for doing it myself, that way, I’d be open to the suggestion of doing it anywhere, I think the right way to do it is the way that works for you and, in this case, the demand was there, so it’d be foolish to get stuck to bureaucracy and worry about labels."

"Pictures" is now available for purchase on iTunes. Listen to the full version of the song below: