Stirring timeless influences with modern pop sensibilities, 21-year-old Sonny offers something a little different in the current landscape. It’s a sound that has seen him reach 20 million streams at Spotify within just a handful of releases, including his breakthrough ‘Princess’.
While he’s currently best known for his laidback ballads, his new single ‘Place I Love’ presents a much bigger sound. That spirited, mature-beyond-his-year vocal once again stands out with its strong-armed soul. It adorns a potent pop-rock anthem with resounding live energy and an undercurrent of contemporary country. The single is accompanied by an animated lyric video WATCH BELOW:
Sonny’s lyrics are a heartfelt tribute to his hometown of South Shields. The line “back to the land of the sanddancers” refers to the local slang term used to describe the town’s people. It’s believed that the sanddancers term originated as a reference to South Shields’ long golden beach.
“Place I love is about my hometown South Shields. Growing up with the amazing Geordie nightlife and my group of friends. I always miss it when I’m away from home, it seems especially relevant in the present times as we can’t go out with our mates and this song always brings back good memories for me of when everything was normal” says Sonny.
As with so many artists, 2020 has limited Sonny’s plans. Nonetheless, he released the recent track ‘10’, has played a handful of hometown gigs and has taken to Instagram to perform favourite songs by artists including Joel Corry / MNEK, Miley Cyrus and Allen Stone.
Sonny first started gigging around the Newcastle area when he was just 14-years-old. His influences were broadly drawn from his parents’ love of music, covering vintage R&B, soul, folk and country. That gave him the foundations to build a following from a very young age, with his EPs ‘Hopeless Romance’ (2017), ‘Northern Nights’ (2018) and the all-acoustic ‘Beech Road’. He also collaborated with Hannah Grace for two tracks in 2019.
Sonny is just as accomplished as a live performer. He has toured as a guest to James TW, Gabrielle Aplin and Saint Raymond, and headlined the Servant Jazz Quarters in London and The Cluny in Newcastle. Festival dates have included The Great Escape, the final Secret Garden Party and Barbour International’s stage at Malle Mile.
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