Angel Face (album)

Angel Face is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Stephen Sanchez, released on September 22, 2023,[1] through Mercury and Republic Records.

[4][5] Following the release of Angel Face, starting in October 2023, Sanchez went the Live In Person tour performing the songs on the album.

[5] John Murphy of MusicOMH wrote that "you'd swear you were listening to a vintage soul singer of the '50s – Sanchez's voice is absolutely stunning, and the 13 songs gathered on Angel Face are designed to show it off to its very best advantage", although "the problem with making a record that sounds like it belongs in the 1950s means that, all too often, it sounds a bit too much like pastiche".

[4] DIY's Bella Martin felt that Angel Face "fumbles as an introduction" although Sanchez's "voice is stunning, a far-reaching, emotive vibrato evoking Roy Orbison that keeps the often surface-level nature of his lyrics from reaching full saccharine".

[5] A staff reviewer at Sputnikmusic wrote that the album "deserves some credit for possessing a small handful of excellent singles, but outside of those, this album falters almost uniformly", writing that they could "see what Stephen Sanchez was going for conceptually and aesthetically" but that "the additional eight songs add no value at best and more often than not kill whatever buzz that was generated" by the singles.

Sanchez performing at First Avenue in Minneapolis on Oct. 19, 2023.