Introducing Jared Saltiel

New York, NY (Top40 Charts) From an early age, Jared Saltiel wanted to be a fiction writer. But he got sidetracked by his affinity for music; a natural talent, he quickly picked up piano, drums, and guitar. As his singer-songwriter ambitions took shape, the college years were a time of poetic lyricism, angsty allegory and breezy pop-rock hooks. It wasn't until he moved to New York in his twenties that the love of storytelling returned in full force, emerging in every facet of his music. As a songwriter, producer and arranger, Saltiel doesn't just make records; he creates worlds, imbued with lush detail, and sculpted with authorial intent.

With Out of Clay, the second installment in a series of loosely-related concept albums, Saltiel delivers a collection of story-songs about love, idealization and disillusionment. The music draws from far-flung influences - the reconstructed classical aesthetics of Rufus Wainwright, the medieval flourishes of Joanna Newsom, the dense, jazz-inflected harmony of Brazilian pop's golden era, and the spacey grandiosity of classic Britpop. Saltiel's intricate classical guitar and expressive vocals are adorned by an elaborate tapestry of instrumentation, featuring strings, woodwinds, harp, mandolin, french horn and a trio of women's voices.

A long-distance relationship informed the bulk of the songs on Out of Clay. "Something strange happens when two people spend too much time apart," Saltiel explains. "Eventually you lose track of the real person you fell in love with, and you find yourself clinging to an ideal that you may have created." Saltiel brings that idea to life with his imaginary storytelling, adapting mythical archetypes and his own dreams to uncover the unsettling truths of the psyche. Equal parts mystical seeker and musical auteur, Jared Saltiel is a devoted artist on a visionary path of his own making.