Introducing: Pomona Park

With lyrical charm and indie-pop bite, Pomona Park are ready to disrupt your playlists once again. The Manchester quartet—known for their sharp storytelling and youthful optimism—return with “Do Not Disturb”, a fresh cut of cinematic indie-pop that fuses wry introspection with festival-ready energy. Out May 25th, the track marks another confident step forward for a band already making serious noise on the UK indie scene.

Born in the aftermath of lockdown and bonded by both friendship and frustration, Pomona Park channel the lyrical depth of Sam Fender and the swagger of early Arctic Monkeys, crafting songs that dig into self-doubt, social masks, and modern romance—all wrapped in hooks that won’t leave your head. With past singles climbing charts, selling out local venues, and racking up tens of thousands of streams, the band’s trajectory is only going one way. Up.

We sat down with Chris, James, Bobby, and Aaron to talk new music, lyrical honesty, and why “Do Not Disturb” might be their boldest release yet.

1. You describe your sound as “youthful optimism with lyrical charm.” How do you strike that balance between thoughtful storytelling and upbeat, punchy indie-pop energy?

It’s really something that comes out in the process between Chris writing the songs and us getting together in a rehearsal space to develop them. The structure and lyrics of the song give it a storyline already, and then at that point our own influences push the song into a certain direction. To start with we are just playing with ideas and usually we add more than is what's needed. An overly busy bass line, a drum pattern that doesn't quite click, too many guitar parts are all things we try to keep in mind but initially let slide. Once we have all that, it’s about taking a step back, really listening to what we have and being flexible in the studio to get the best possible results. So long as everyone in the band and those helping us produce and engineer the song are all on the same page, we get a good mix of storytelling and musical energy.

2. Pomona Park was born from post-lockdown reconnection—how has that origin story shaped your chemistry as a band and the themes you gravitate toward in your songwriting?

The origin story of Pomona Park is one that I think is quite common for newly forming bands. It essentially boils down to friends knowing other friends that play the instrument they are looking for. Fortunately for us, it meant that literally from day one we were writing together after playing a few covers to settle the nerves. With Chris already having a bit of a back catalogue of tunes he had written, it took a lot of pressure off us at the beginning to have these templates for the use to work on, almost a foundation for us to start with. From then, as we have played more and more together, we’ve got a good sense of each other's playing styles, strengths and inspirations to a point where now when writing the music for a song we talk a lot more than play at the beginning. “A bassline like this song” or “A lead part like that song”, with the underlying understanding of each other musically means that we can go towards and away from themes depending on the kind of song we are trying to make.

For example, listeners may hear a touch of Sam Fender’s Getting Started in Do Not Disturb’s chords, with the way we use passing chords. These kinds of things come from conversations and ideas that we have as musicians that we can play with once we get together in a rehearsal space.

3. Lyrically, your songs tackle everything from modern dating quirks to identity and self-perception. Are there any particular life moments or conversations that sparked these narratives?

Chris writes the lyrics for our songs, and the inspiration for these usually come from different places each time. It's a real mixture of when lighting strikes and also making your own opportunities. Some lyrics come when sitting on a bus or overhearing a conversation, others when a rehearsal is coming up or when sitting down with the aim of writing something. It's hard to quantify these kinds of things, and I think really it's all about being open to as many avenues for song writing inspiration as possible.

The important thing when we get into the studio is that all the songs have general themes as a baseline, a thing that it's trying to say, so if and when we need to change the phrasing or wording of a line to get the rhythm just right, we all know whats trying to be said and can work to keep that underlying idea remains the same.

4. “Overdrink” continues to top your live sets—why do you think that track resonates so strongly with your audience, and how has it evolved since its release?

Like many other local bands, your first few gigs are friends, family and bar staff. Overdrink was the first song we recorded as a band and so has been the set list ender since the beginning. Those people that have been coming to see us since the beginning are now familiar enough with it that there's almost an expectation for it, and anticipation of when it’s going to be played. I think the style of the song helps too, it's very much one that you can sing along too, especially in the chorus, and so when played live and at the end of the set list, its one that people can belt out!

5. With “Do Not Disturb” and “Lifeline” on the horizon, and a growing loyal fanbase, what can we expect from Pomona Park’s next chapter in 2025? Any surprises in store?

The past few years for us as a band have been amazing, playing gigs at places we never thought possible and refining our sound into something that we’re incredibly proud of. All of this would be for nothing without the support we constantly and consistently get from friends, family and those that enjoy our music, and to those people we are forever grateful.

2025 for us is all about releasing new music, playing gigs and enjoying our time doing so with the people that support us along the way. We’ve got some big plans around music videos, working with our good friend Matt Tomlinson of Abstract Manchester, and those that follow our music should keep an eye out over the coming weeks for things like this! Pomona Park are releasing music just in time for the Summer and with plenty going on behind the scenes. If you like our music and want to keep up to date, the best thing to do is to follow us on socials @pomona.park and to follow us on your music streaming platform of choice!