Pop is a particularly narrative genre, requiring a few wins, a few setbacks, and a lot of matters of the heart. This incoming album is, in brief, the story of a lovesick Italian gentleman. It’s a savvy idea, retro and masculine in a nonthreatening, Continental way. “What I really want to do is to bring that Italian class and elegance,” he says. “Everything feels expensive.”
Album credits include a murderers’ row of blue-chip songwriters and producers: Jason Evigan (whose CV…

