Fall in love listening to Stephen Sanchez’s newest album, Angel Face

On Sept 22, Stephen Sanchez dropped his debut album, Angel Face, and after reviewing his album, I have plenty of things to say about it. However, before I dive in, let me give you an introduction behind the self-proclaimed troubadour himself, Stephen Sanchez. Sanchez is a Cali-born yet Nashville-based singer who rose to popularity after his song, “Until I Found You,” gained notoriety on the app TikTok, as well as appearing in the Netflix tv drama/comedy show Ginny & Georgia. Likewise, Sanchez’s focus on bringing back the era of 1950/60’s romance definitely shows up as his inspiration for his debut album. Of course, Sanchez’s discography began a lot earlier with his debut EP, What Was, Not Now in mid 2021, as he worked endlessly to make his mark known in the music industry and that he did.

Moving onto Angel Face, Sanchez’s album appears at first glance to have the aforementioned 1960s vibes as shown with Sanchez looking down to what appears to be the girl he has his literal eyes on. According to an interview with People’s Magazine, Sanchez explains that Angel Face is a concept album that he states is a romantic tragedy between his alter-persona, the Troubadour Sanchez, and his lover, Evangeline. The story gets played out as one listens to the 13 track album, each containing a part of the story through the track titles. Starting off with “Something About Her”, the song portrays the lonesome feeling of an ex-partner that one tends to remember, which as the title suggests, is something the Troubadour cannot forget. I believe that the human connection/relatability despite the Elvis-esque feel of this album embodies a simpler time when lovers could come together and love unconditionally. Thus, it makes for a good listen as one goes on.

Providing such a variety of genres like, “Shake” (which reminded me of late singer Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Ball of Fire”), “Caught in A Blue”, and “No One Knows (with Laufey)”. Likewise, the album included earlier released singles from 2022 such as, “Until I Found You,” “Evangeline,” and “Only Girl”. Of these listed, my personal favorite was “Shake”, “Caught in a Blue,” and “High” as it provided a Alex Turner/Arctic Monkeys sort of sound despite the album’s concentrated timeframe. While there were many more singles to list, it’s safe to assume Sanchez’s album was worth the wait and one you should definitely have on your Spotify playlist. The album is clearly well-done in terms of production, sound quality, and just the overall care Sanchez’s creativity can portray about love and betrayal in the 1960s in just a compact album. In short, I highly recommended this album and will certainly be out on the lookout for more of his music to come!

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