Stephen Sanchez - Angel Face

Stephen Sanchez's Angel Face is a love story staged like a late-fifties picture show, all slicked-back crooning and broken hearts, and his 2023 debut wears its vintage inspirations proudly.

Sanchez broke through with the viral "Until I Found You", and that song sits at the heart of this loose concept album. It follows a fictional version of himself, the Troubadour, rising to fame in 1958 before falling for Evangeline, a woman already tied to a dangerous mob boss. Produced by Konrad Snyder and Ian Fitchuk, it borrows freely from the music of the fifties and sixties, with a little gospel fervour mixed in.

"Evangeline" swoons with a melody made for slow dancing under paper lanterns, while "Until I Found You" remains the tender showstopper it was always meant to be. "Be More" adds a lovesick, wide-eyed plea, and "Death of the Troubadour" pushes the story toward its dramatic final act.

Sanchez's voice is the real draw, a warm, quivering tenor that sounds lifted straight from an old jukebox yet never feels like a costume. The production keeps one foot firmly in the past, letting reverb, close harmonies and heartache do the heavy lifting.

It is sweet, theatrical and unashamedly romantic, a record for anyone who still believes in grand gestures.