People are seriously crushing on Stephen Sanchez.
The 20-year-old modern-day crooner who looks like Elvis and sounds like Roy Orbison has put a spell on listeners with big, heart-eyed retro love songs like “Until I Found You” over the past year.
That song alone has amassed 2 billion streams and also stirred up the feels in top dogs like Elton John and Lionel Richie. John invited Sanchez to duet “Until I Found You” with him onstage at his last-ever live show at the Glastonbury Music Fest in late June, and Richie flew Sanchez out to France in April to sing the romantic serenade on his daughter Sofia’s wedding day.
“That song opened a lot of doors,” Sanchez says with a lighthearted chuckle over the phone. He’s just stepped out of rehearsals, preparing for a tour that heads to Riviera on Oct. 20 that will bring his debut album “Angel Face” to life. Much like his aforementioned big hit, the retro-tinged 13-track record, released Sept. 22 via Mercury and Republic Records, was a bold move for Sanchez that has paid off handsomely.
It’s a concept album that follows the story arc of a fictional character named The Troubadour Sanchez (his quasi alter ego) who rose to the top of the charts in 1958 with his song “Until I Found You,” then falls in love with the ingenue Evangeline, gets entangled in a rivalry with her mob boyfriend Hunter and — spoiler alert — winds up dead.
Songs like “Something About Her,” “Caught in a Blue” and “Death of the Troubadour” (a few written with one of his idols, Lord Huron’s Ben Schneider) hint at the contents within; Sanchez also recently partnered with Lenovo for a graphic visual album accompaniment that brings the story to life. He will continue with some of the theatrics in the live setting that aims to bring attendees into the old Hollywood world of “Angel Face.”
“In the ’50s and ’60s there was a million different stories about gunslingers fighting it out over a woman that they loved, and there’s stories of torn characters with their own demons meeting a man or woman that changes their perspective … and I just love all those deep dramas, in the music as well,” Sanchez shares, adding that one specific record inspired the “Angel Face” storyline and its songwriting: Marty Robbins’ 1959 LP “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs,” which was recorded in one session and placed No. 6 on the music charts.
“I fell in love with that album, especially the track ‘El Paso’ that walks you through the tale of these two cowboys that get into a gunfight over a woman named Feleena,” he says.
When it came time for Sanchez to start work on “Angel Face,” he had Robbins’ record percolating in the back of his mind while also knowing the sounds he wanted to hone in on — “the crooner pop sound of the ’50s, and the ’60s grit of Motown and soul, the James Brown and Marvin Gaye flavors,” Sanchez shares, adding that his nostalgia for that era is two-fold.
“I love the organic storytelling that happens within that music of that era and I also really love the style of that time. Everything was so clean cut and classic and feels very artsy and golden and beautiful.”
Esquire recently featured Sanchez and his ’50s/’60s-style fashionista moments showing the through-lines in his life.
A lot of the foundation for his music and interests in yesteryear comes from the influence of his grandparents, Sanchez shares.
“My one grandfather introduced me to vinyl and the other one introduced me to guitar playing and singing. … They also taught me a lot about what healthy love looks like.”
Sanchez, who grew up in Sacramento, California (and now resides in Brooklyn), was also raised in the church, where he was introduced to gospel music.
“And then life got a hold of me and I was introduced to love and girls, and it all was a recipe for being passionate about music,” he jokes.
A break came during COVID when Sanchez started uploading songs to TikTok and soon a cover of Cage the Elephant’s “Cigarette Daydreams” went viral in 2020.
“The right folks heard my music and wanted to sign this 17-year-old-kid,” he says, his voice still seemingly filled with wonder at his own story arc.
Yet, Sanchez is nowhere near close to wrapping it up. Before the year — and his tour — concludes in December, there may be a “very unexpected” collaboration coming, he teases.
“I don’t want to spoil it. We just did it. But it’s a very very interesting thing that we’ve done, and I think it will knock fans on their ass.”
