“I’m just going to go the pop route and find a nice balance between young stuff and those songs I can be expressive with and connect with well,” he said. “I’m really excited. The tour leaves next week, and I’m excited to spend time with the other contestants — being out there, learning how to deal with that situation and gaining that stage experience.”

The ink is barely dry on his contract with 19 Recordings/ Jive Records, but American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta says he’s already writing material for his forthcoming debut — he’s just not sure any of the songs will end up on the album.

“I don’t know about the songwriting stuff for me,” he said at Saturday’s premiere of Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E” at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. “I love to write songs because it’s a way to express yourself. It’s cool. But I don’t know if any of my songs will be on [the album]. That would be cool if any of them did make it, but it’s a matter of finding the best songs. I definitely want to just write more and see if there are any songs that are suitable for it.”

Since finishing second in the singing contest back in May, Archuleta has been busy making the press rounds in L.A. and New York and rehearsing for this summer’s American Idols Live! Tour, which gets under way July 1 in Glendale, Arizona. But he did get some time off, which he spent relaxing with his family, hanging out with friends and working on song ideas for his inaugural recording.

“It was fun to just be able to spend time with my family and see my friends, and I took some time to come up with some song ideas,” he said. “The whole [’American Idol’] experience was pretty awesome. It was my life for four months, so it lasted for a long time, but it was pretty fun.”

Archuleta said that his album, which he’s been working on between tour rehearsals, will be what you’d expect: a pop album through and through.

“I’m just going to go the pop route and find a nice balance between young stuff and those songs I can be expressive with and connect with well,” he said. “I’m really excited. The tour leaves next week, and I’m excited to spend time with the other contestants — being out there, learning how to deal with that situation and gaining that stage experience.”

While there’s no definite release date for Archuleta’s set, he does hope that his future will always involve music. When asked which artist he hopes to emulate, Archuleta cited John Mayer and Jason Mraz.

“I love John Mayer’s career and Jason Mraz’s, but I will probably go a little more pop than they do,” he confessed. “They have been true to themselves and have kept to the real side of music. They’ve shown what they love about music. I hope to always be myself, except more mature and knowing more. Hopefully I’ll still be making music five years from now. I don’t want to give it up. I want to continue on with it, and if there’s a chance to make more albums, I definitely want to do that.”

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