Singer-songwriter Jared Sagal has emerged from the competitive Los Angeles club circuit with a debut album bound to distinguish him from his peers. The young guitarist has an unerring ear for a pop hook and a way with a telling detail, and he’s assembled a talented band to play his infectious melodies. Fans of Howie Day,The Fray and Gavin DeGraw are sure to fall in love with Say It, his thoughtful recent release. Sagal’s honesty and refreshing commitment to forthright expression are rare commodities in contemporary singer-songwriter music.

Sagal’s six-string underpins almost all of these radio-ready cuts, but the arrangements on Say It are more elaborate than what we’ve all come to expect from guitar-slingers. Sweep strings, elastic bass, big beats, delicate backing vocals, Mellotron and synth horns frame the songs and add color to Sagal’s storytelling. His tales are romantic, steeped in heartache, but often hopeful; in “Walking At 5AM”, the album’s ruminative track, the madness of the world falls away at the sight of his lover’s face. Other tracks are more conflicted – “The Scarf” is a poignant offering to a young woman in need, undercut by a strain of desperate insecurity. Sensitively produced by Steve Plunkett of cult-rockers Autograph, Say It supports Jared Sagal’s everyman voice with music that is rich, powerful, and occasionally even glorious.