Stephen Sanchez’s raw, intimate odes tap into the timeless romance and nostalgia of mid-century American pop stars like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, both artists he discovered as a child while digging through his grandparents’ vinyl collection. Armed with just a guitar and his sensual croon, the singer-songwriter specialises in love songs with an edge of devastating heartbreak. In 2020, the Nashville artist uploaded a snippet of his composition “Lady by the Sea” to social media; the video reached multiplatinum singer-songwriter Jeremy Zucker, who offered to produce a professional version. Sanchez’s haunting falsetto and finger-picked guitar helped the single gather millions of streams, landing him a deal with Republic Records. 2021’s “Until I Found You” built on that success as another viral hit, garnering over 1.7 billion global streams—and a co-sign from Elton John. Sanchez’s single “Be More” hinted at an evolution into more dramatic territory on debut LP <i>Angel Face</i>, a concept album about a fictional “Troubadour Sanchez” navigating fame and misfortune in his favorite decade: the 1950s.