Silent Cities

Silent Cities is a UK act active from 2010 onwards. The name has also been used by other projects, including a Phoenix, Arizona darkwave and EDM band and a Manchester pop-punk band that later moved towards a heavier rock and metal sound. The UK Silent Cities project is associated with Sheldon, who writes and records as a solo project at points in its history and is described as working with other musicians at other times.

Releases and style

The project begins with a self-titled demo CD, released after Sheldon writes all 10 songs and receives help from close friends with recording, playing and mixing. The songs span electronica and metal, and the recording includes violin, synthesizer and piano alongside other instrumentation. The CD is recorded with professional equipment by recording student Noah Tassie.

Silent Cities then releases Blacktop Buildings and Concrete Streets as an eight-track EP. This release moves the sound towards pop-punk and hardcore, while also including a Christian acoustic track. It is recorded in Inman, South Carolina at JP Studios and produced by John Petty, and is the first Silent Cities release to appear on iTunes.

A third album, The Interior of a Heart, follows after the recruitment of new band members. This release is described as another step in Sheldon’s songwriting, and the added members influence its sound toward alternative rock with a range of stylistic elements. It also includes two tracks from Blacktop Buildings and Concrete Streets. The album is recorded at Sit-n-Spin Studios in Greenville, South Carolina and produced by Marc Gwinn and David Sims.

After the band splits because of different educational pursuits, Silent Cities returns again as a solo project. Sheldon then works with other musicians for a year before recording a fourth studio album, All the World’s a Stage, at Whitestone Studios.

Line-up changes

The broader Silent Cities name is also linked to a Manchester band that forms as a pop-punk group and goes through several line-up changes during its early years. By 2013, only the two guitarists remain from the original line-up, and the music shifts towards heavier rock and metal. A new vocalist joins in the summer of 2013, but the group parts ways in the autumn of that year.