Luke Rogers

Stephen Sanchez is best known for his swoony retro love ballad “Until I Found You,” but he says his upcoming debut album is full of revenge and murder.

Speaking about the project to the British publication NME, Stephen says the album tells the story of three characters: Evangeline, the subject of the song he released in January, and two men, Hunter and a guy called “The Troubadour,” who Evangeline dumps Hunter for.

“Hunter is part of a notorious gang back in 1960s who owns a club,” Stephen explains. “And ‘The Troubadour’ has a residency there and while he’s playing a show, he gets gunned down by Hunter because he stole this girl. There’s a lot of mystery and lore and romance and heartache.”

“It’s full of all the things that make up every single day if you decide you want to be in love with somebody,” he notes. “It’s that never-ending story. I’m really excited about it.”

A new song from the record, “Be More,” arrives August 4. Meanwhile, Stephen is still floating on air from performing “Until I Found You” with Elton John last month at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival.

“He had asked me to play [his song] ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues,'” Stephen tells NME. “But then, he was like, ‘Actually scratch that, we want you to sing your own song, just come out and do it.’ So, we did and it was a really beautiful time. I was so glad I got to thank him in front of so many people and also share the same love and grew up with him. It’s just a beautiful friendship.”

Stephen also revealed on Instagram that after the show, “Paul McCartney hugged me and told me I did a great job.”

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