City Circuits Turn a Break-Up Into Upbeat Indie Pop on Anybody Else (Not You), and How to Hear It

Toronto Trio Treat a Break-Up as Good News, with 1980s Pop Cues and Warm Vocals

City Circuits point a bright, 1980s-tinted indie pop arrangement at a break-up on Anybody Else (Not You), and they refuse to sulk about it. The Toronto trio released the single on 27 May 2022. Their own notes on SoundCloud describe it as a song about telling someone off while you carry on enjoying your life, so the music keeps smiling while the words close the door.

City Circuits are in the playlist below, so the Toronto trio’s brighter side is one click away. The trio’s coverage so far sits on the City Circuits artist profile. Anybody Else (Not You) reached this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news desks. Press play on it, then read on for the hook, the lyric and the structure.

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City Circuits Hang the Hook of Anybody Else (Not You) on an Upbeat Groove and Warm Vocals

Start with the line-up, because it explains the sound. David Smith sings and plays synth and rhythm guitar. Jonathan Smith plays drums and sings backing vocals, and Corey Biot plays lead guitar. The band sum up their own approach as synth-driven rhythm and bass with guitar hooks on top, and they call the result Modern Retro. In other words, the keyboards hold the floor and the guitars decorate it.

On Anybody Else (Not You), that set-up serves one job, which is keeping the mood light. Punk Head heard a song “dipped into the best of the 80s” and finished with modern production. It also praised smooth, warm vocals over what it called “luscious yet breathable soundscapes”. That last phrase matters for craft. A breathable mix leaves gaps, and gaps give a hook room to land.

The title invites a comparison, too. The 1975 released Somebody Else in 2016, a break-up song that lingers in jealousy over slow, glossy synths. City Circuits take a near-identical title and run the other way, toward an upbeat and sunnier pop song. Meanwhile, fans of Bleachers will know the trick of setting a hard subject against big, cheerful 1980s-style production. Anybody Else (Not You) works from the same playbook at indie pop scale.

The Lyric Treats the Break-Up as Freedom Rather Than Loss

Most break-up songs ask for sympathy. This one asks for a celebration instead. The band describe the feeling of telling someone off, while you get on with the rest of your life, as euphoric. Accordingly, the song is built to carry that feeling rather than the hurt that came before it.

Punk Head made the same point from the listener’s side. Its review argued that an ending can bring “freedom and new possibilities”, and it called the single a feel-good breakup song that changes how you see a break-up. In short, the record treats the split as a release, not a wound.

The title does a lot of the writing on its own. Anybody Else opens the door to the whole world, and then the bracket (Not You) names the one exception. It reads like a punchline delivered in two beats, and it tells you the point of view before a note plays. Four years later, the band ran a similar trick in reverse on the 2026 single It’s You, Not Me (I Promise), which flips the oldest excuse in the break-up book. So the bracketed aside has become a City Circuits habit worth noticing.

City Circuits Shape Anybody Else (Not You) Around an Early Lift and a Two-Beat Title

Now the structure. A break-up song that wants to cheer you up cannot save its good mood for the final chorus, and Anybody Else (Not You) does not try to. Punk Head wrote that by the end of the song, or even by the halfway point, a listener has forgotten why they were sad. That is a design choice as much as a feeling, because the lift has to arrive early and then hold.

The production helps it hold. Punk Head credited glossy modern production layered over 1980s references, and the band’s own sound leans on synth-driven rhythm and bass. That combination is built for momentum. A synth-led rhythm section keeps the floor moving, while a warm lead vocal keeps the mood friendly rather than bitter.

Its reception followed the same line. Punk Head reviewed the single in June 2022. That same month, the German blog NewIndieRadar filed it under indie pop and added it to its #NowPlaying playlist. Brazil’s Diário de Shows also featured the track.

Where the 1980s Cues Came From, and Where They Went Next

City Circuits have been active since 2016. Brothers David and Jonathan Smith have played together since high school, and Corey Biot later helped sharpen the retro sound as the trio played shows around Toronto. Their 2018 debut, the six-song EP If Your Heart Is Open, mixed upbeat, catchy numbers with a quieter acoustic side on Stay the Night.

Singles followed at a steady clip, and the band now count more than 20 of them. Punk Head heard VHS as a summer drive down an 1980s highway, while Talk to Me went further into a ballroom mood. Meanwhile, a 2023 short on the band’s YouTube channel makes a cheerful case that keytars are cool, which tells you how seriously this band takes its synths.

After Anybody Else (Not You), the run continued with You Wanted This and You Can’t Get Enough, featuring Anthony Varone, in 2023. Then came Just Friends and Yellow Sundress in 2024, A Girl Like You in 2025, and The Fool and It’s You, Not Me (I Promise) in 2026. As a result, the 2022 single now sits near the start of a long, steady run of indie pop releases.

ElectroPop.News’s curator team: “Anybody Else (Not You) is the break-up song for the night out you nearly cancelled. It keeps its spirits up from the start, and that confidence is exactly what a kiss-off needs.”

To hear the craft, listen twice. First, play Anybody Else (Not You) loud and follow the vocal. Then play it again and listen underneath, to the rhythm section and guitars carrying the good mood. Finally, cue up It’s You, Not Me (I Promise) to hear the title trick turned around four years on.

Stream City Circuits on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Tidal, Deezer and Bandcamp. Watch the band on the YouTube channel, and find every link on Linktree or the official site. Then follow City Circuits on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X.

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