Nashville-based singer and songwriter Stephen Sanchez has released his new single, “Missing You” with Ashe today via Mercury Records/Republic Records. The track, which was produced by Ian Fitchuck (Kacey Musgraves, Joy Oladokun, James Bay) and Konrad Synder, is carried by soft guitar and piano while Sanchez and Ashe trade verses back and forth. Listen to it now below.
In talking about the song Stephen said, “This song means a lot to me because I was writing, yes, about a love I remember through my eyes, but also a love through someone else’s eyes. It was something I’d never done before: heard about how in love someone else was and writing from their experience with it. It was exhilarating.” He continues and describes working with Ashe for the first time: “Ashe is one of the most inspiring artists I’ve ever worked with. Full of such tangible joy, It’s the most fun I’ve had writing a song. She is a powerhouse of a vocalist and a troubadour at heart. A true artist with something to say. As a friend, she makes colors more vibrant and love more true. I am grateful to know her and I am honored to have our words immortalized in song.”
On the song and working with Stephen, Ashe said, “‘Missing You’ just fell out. The minute Stephen and I got in the room together, he sat down at the piano and sang to me ‘what if the windows flew off all the buildings and I could not see you again,’ and we disappeared into some writing abyss where there was only love and joy, and as cheesy as it sounds, it just wrote itself. Writing with Stephen is a lot like running around a field at night catching ideas like lightning bugs. It connected me to some childlike, beautiful place that I hope to return to again.”
It lands in the wake of Stephen’s acclaimed Easy On My Eyes EP. The project boasted his breakthrough smash “Until I Found You.” Not only did the latter eclipse 1 billion-plus global streams and over 50 million views on the official music video (watch here), but it also vaulted into the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, Top 20 on the Spotify Global Top 50, #3 at AAA Radio, Top 15 at Top 40 Radio, Top 30 at Hot AC Radio, and Top 25 at AC Radio. Meanwhile, Stephen catapulted to #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songwriters Chart.
Across Easy On My Eyes, Stephen recounts an unbelievable year since his emergence. He wrote nearly all of the songs on the EP himself and teamed up with Jamie Hartman [James Bay, Lewis Capaldi] and Jon Green [Lady A, Little Big Town] on “Hey Girl.” He then worked with producers Ian Fitchuk [Kacey Musgraves, James Bay] and Konrad Snyder [Madi Diaz, Rainbow Kitten Surprise] in Nashville to bring the EP to life in one-take performances. The project illuminates his talent both as a vocalist and a songwriter.