On a warm October evening, the singer speaks lovingly of his most ambitious project yet. He often uses the phrase “100 percent” to emphasize his investment, and his tone suggests the album has surpassed even his own lofty standards.

“Maybe I’m being hard on myself, but I feel like [production] came to the rescue sometimes before, and I didn’t want that to happen this time,” he says, recalling the process that resulted in his two “mini-albums,” 2014’s TRXYE and this September’s Wild. “I wanted to write songs I could strip back and play on the piano, and the production would just make them sound fresh and new.”

...“I’ve been excited for a long time to be honest as an artist, because we’re in a really cool time when we can be,” he says. “I’m gay. I like boys. These songs are about boys. I think some people think I’m trying to make this big statement by having a boy in these videos. It’s like, ‘What, am I supposed to have a girl?’ ”