Review: Sons of the City

Northern upstarts Sons of the City are shaping up to be something very special indeed. Hailing from Sheffield, they’re already showing the kind of confidence, scope and songwriting maturity that many bands spend years chasing. With their debut album lined up for January 2026, these early preview tracks feel less like teasers and more like a clear statement of intent.

First up, Under All The Lights breezes in on a reflective, soaring intro before slowly expanding into a full-blown indie opus. There’s an effortless warmth to this track that feels like an instant antidote to the winter blues-laid back, sun-soaked and completely unforced. It nods respectfully toward the great 90s Britpop era, but crucially never leans on it. Instead, Sons of the City modernise those influences, shaping something fresh, confident and unmistakably their own. The vocal layers are beautifully understated, and the way the song flows toward its finale-building and building into an epic crescendo-feels tailor-made for radio and big stages alike. This has “future hit” written all over it.

Can’t Get You Out of My Mind follows and immediately shows another side to the band. It opens with more urgency, pulling you straight in, yet still carries that same polished, modern identity. The chorus melody is pure earworm-one of those hooks that burrows in on first listen and refuses to leave. It’s brimming with positivity and light, exactly the kind of song that lifts your mood without trying too hard. There are fleeting hints of The La’s and Gigolo Aunts in the melodic DNA, but they’re just that-glimpses-used as stepping stones rather than crutches.

What’s most impressive across these two tracks is how assured everything feels. The songwriting is confident, the production is tight and the band already sound like they know exactly where they’re heading. While many of the great 90s bands now trade in nostalgia, Sons of the City feel poised to carry that lineage forward-setting trends rather than revisiting them.

If these songs are anything to go by, 2026 is going to be very bright indeed.
Looks like these Sons of the City aren’t just chasing the lights… they’re about to switch them on.