Jake Manzi, a Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter, recently released his first full-length album “Whatever My Heart Allows.” The album, a dreamy collection of soft-rock songs about life and love, has been praised for its intimate sound and the tender emotion displayed in the lyrics. 

Manzi will promote the launch of “Whatever My Heart Allows” at Club Passim in Cambridge on March 13. 

Manzi grew up in Northampton, MA, surrounded by music, but not often playing it. 

“[I was] always, always into music and could never play it,” Manzi said. “There were instruments around the house and in my family, there’s a lot of musicians. My dad plays, [as well as] my uncles at family gatherings.”

Those experiences were frustrating for Manzi, especially when he saw people his own age succeeding where he had failed. This included Caleb Rosazza, a family friend of Manzi who played with him at a show hosted by their parents. 

“I was like, ‘this kid’s as old as me. He was like, seven-years-old, shredding guitar,’” Manzi said. 

Rosazza remembered that show just as vividly.

 “It was somehow arranged that he was going to sing a song with us and he picked the song ‘You’re Missing’ by Bruce Springsteen, which is a really bummer song for a little kid to sing,” Rosazza said. “It was the first time I ever met him.”

That show was a lucky break for both Manzi and Rosazza, as it marked the start of a life-long partnership as musicians and friends. 

“He hasn’t changed too much since. He still loves very mellow, sad Bruce Springsteen songs from the 2000s,” Rosazza said. 

Manzi, however, remembered the growth he went through over the years. While his music taste may have remained the same, his singing and guitar playing abilities have improved. Manzi’s initial motivation to learn the piano came from the desire to play Springsteen’s songs on his own, and he displays those musical abilities on “Whatever My Heart Allows.”

The album, Manzi’s second production after he launched his extended play in 2016, has been years in the making. Manzi said he started to see the album come together after he wrote a few songs he thought went well together. 

“I think there were a lot of identity things, trying to figure out who I am,” Manzi said.

After performing the songs for a few years with his band, Manzi, along with Rosazza, started to talk more seriously about making a fully-produced, full-length album. 

“It was down to just me and [Manzi] getting back into our studio for just big chunks at a time,  throwing things at the wall and seeing what was going to stick,” Rosazza said. “[We were] figuring out how it could sound [as if] we were in a big fancy studio somewhere with all of these fancy instruments and musicians.”

Kimaya Diggs, one of Manzi’s friends and a fellow musician who has played with him, described the stimulating recording process. 

“I don’t know if [Manzi] would agree with this, but I get the sense that the recording process pushed him a little bit out of his comfort zone because it was the first album that he had really recorded in this way,” Diggs said. “I think that the way that it was recorded allowed parts of his voice to come through that don’t usually come through in other recordings. And that was just really beautiful and just really underscored and emphasized all the emotion in the process.”

Much of the emotions coming out are from Manzi’s lyrics and storytelling. 

“I think I was maybe in a more insecure period of my existence,” Manzi said. “‘Whatever My Heart Allows’ is totally a song that I’m trying to open myself up [in]. That’s something that I want to do, is be totally open and love openly.” 

Manzi said he thinks the album has helped him to achieve this goal and that there was a “therapeutic quality to the songwriting process.” Diggs agreed with Manzi’s interpretation. 

“The overall impact of the album on me gave me a really three-dimensional picture of someone figuring out ‘what does it mean to love?’” Diggs said. 

She defines the album as moving on multiple levels, and praises how it intertwines different elements.

“It is like a love letter. It’s the combination of poetry from confession and humility, because it’s not exclusive and artsy like poetry. It’s not desperate like a confession,” Diggs said. “He’s not completely groveling with humility. It’s like a love letter to the success of poetry and humility and confession all together. It’s generous, and it’s dutiful and emotional and raw.” 

Even after producing his first album, Manzi is constantly looking forward to the future. He will travel around the Northeast to promote “Whatever My Heart Allows.” Manzi said he has already “starting to put the pieces together” for his next full-length album, which he has been writing for a handful of years. 

“With age comes wisdom. You’re getting a little better at figuring out how to do it,” Manzi said.