South African singer-songwriter Will Linley has dropped a new single, “Easiest Goodbye,” a track he’s been sitting on—and holding close—for two years. The release follows his debut album Don’t Cry Because It’s Over, which arrived earlier this year and pushed Linley further into the global alt-pop conversation.
“Easiest Goodbye” is one of those songs that doesn’t sound like it was written so much as excavated. Linley says he wrote it with his four closest friends and instantly fell in love with the demo, but never found the right moment to let it out into the world. After the album cycle wrapped, he decided South Africa’s summer was the right backdrop for a song that feels like sun drifting through open windows.
Rather than keep it a solo moment, Linley tapped fellow South African artist Manana for a verse—something that came together almost absurdly fast.
“I reached out to my friend Manana to see if he’d be interested in featuring,” Linley says. “Within 30 minutes, he sent his vocals back, and I was over the moon.”
The result folds Manana’s airy tone into Linley’s melodic earnestness, capturing the soft-focus melancholy that runs through Linley’s best work. It’s a song about the simple endings—the ones that ache precisely because they came so naturally.
Linley recently wrapped a UK and European tour, including stops in Dublin, London, Berlin, and Paris. Next, he’s heading home for his Hopeless Summer South African Tour, continuing the momentum of a breakout run that’s included viral singles (“miss me (when you’re gone)”), festival stages, and a growing international fanbase.
“Easiest Goodbye” is out now via Island Records. Check it out here.
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