By Ezra Caber

American singer-songwriter Stephen Sanchez rose in popularity from his song “Until I Found You,” which made it to the Billboard Hot 100 last year. With his newfound popularity, Sanchez released his debut full-length album, “Angel Face” on September 22, 2023. 

Sanchez started to break into the music industry in 2020 with singles such as his first song, “Lady by the Sea.” When “Lady by the Sea” was shown to singer-songwriter, Jeremy Zucker, he offered to help produce it. As a result, this offer paved the way for Sanchez to sign with Republic Records.

By 2021, Sanchez released his first EP, “What Was, Not Now,” which includes his single “Kayla.” In the same year, he released “Until I Found You,” establishing Sanchez’s prime music genre, blue-eyed soul, which is reminiscent of 50’s and 60’s music. 

Then in 2022, he released his first short-length album of seven songs, “Easy On My Eyes.” This album didn’t delve into the theme of 50s sounds, rather, these love songs tend more toward soft, folk-pop than his usual 50s-esque love songs. 

The theme of the album focuses on the story arc of “The Troubadour Sanchez, Evangeline, and Hunter,” taking place in 1964. With the sweet and meaningful tone he’s known for, Sanchez’s story arc follows the love story in which “The Troubadour Sanchez” plans to run away with “Evangeline,” the ex-girlfriend of the mob boss, “Hunter.”

From the lyrics of all the songs, Sanchez describes his infatuation with a girl, especially in the songs, “Only Girl” and “Something About Her.” 

Sanchez’s songs include a lot of reverb, just one of the ways in which despite being styled 50s-esque, he is able to incorporate pop elements that you would expect to hear in modern-day love songs.

“Shake” is the most upbeat track in the album and has beats similar to Elvis’ songs. Sanchez even gives Elvis an honorable mention in the first verse. However, “Shake” is not the best song to represent this album because it doesn’t capture the feeling of “slow, sweet love songs” like the other tracks. Other than “Shake”, the rest of the songs on the album work together as a whole, representing “Angel Face.”

With  Stephen Sanchez emerging into the music industry, new listeners appreciate the unique approach he takes in both his musical styling and storytelling.