Will Linley, a rising singer-songwriter from Cape Town, South Africa, has spent the last few years relentlessly chasing his dreams of music industry success. His debut single “miss me (when you’re gone),” released in late-2021, was an instant attention grabber, striking a balance between the kind of immediate, accessible hook necessary for platforms like TikTok and a vivacious, well-crafted song structure with boundless youthful energy. The accompanying DIY music video for the track only accentuated the latter.
He followed up with similarly catchy indie pop jams, with a bit of a solo boyband tinge, like “wrong time,” “all the girls,” and “kill all my feelings,” the latter still his most compelling, and all featured on his debut EP, kill all my feelings, out mid-2022.
With repeated, and lengthy, trips to the US for recording and touring, online canvassing for a chance to open for OneRepublic in Cape Town (which he did), creating and personalizing merchandise, a steady stream of releases, and a healthy presence on social media, Linley has hit every avenue, earnestly and humbly, in a calculated fashion. The result is, at the time of writing, over half a million monthly listeners on Spotify, a growing and dedicated fanbase, and songs like “Last Call,” “Magic,” and “Tough (The Girls Song)” seemingly becoming longtime setlist staples in a still young touring career.
From a conversation in the green room above the stage at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom, hours before his headline set, earlier this month, Linley opened up about recent single “Blame,” his Magic EP, his signature song, and modestly teased newest release “Just Because I Called You,” which was set for release a few weeks later, and is out now.
“Just Because I Called You,” which was played in full at the Bowery, is, both in a live setting and the studio recording, a high-octane, zestful pop tune with no wasted motion. Linley sits in the pocket from start to finish, his distinct dialect and go-to vocal inflections as appropriate and refined as ever. Only the decision to halt vocal momentum just before the final tag of the song could be seen as a strike against him, but, by all accounts, the tune is a gold mine.
“Blame” was your first real attempt at a, and I use this term loosely, ‘world music’ song. In terms of streaming and those kinds of metrics, how do you feel that song performed?
A song like “Blame” is kind of a shot-in-the-dark. It’s wanting to try something different. I wrote that with Sarah Troy and After Hrs (Andrew Haas & Ian Franzino) … and then I took it to the guys I do a lot of my music with… David Balshaw and Bubele Booi, and Ndumiso Manana, a writer that I love. We really took it into that afro-pop world. For me, you can’t look at numbers. It’s a song that I think tells the listener a little bit more about me. It gives a little bit more of a sonic feeling of where I’m from. I think, being an artist, you’ve got to tell stories with your songs, and a song like that was taking us a little out of the straight-down-the-line pop stuff.
See Linley’s tune ‘all the girls’ off the ‘kill all my feelings’ EP for the evolution of his afro-pop approach.
It has different melodic choices, cadences, style of gang vocals, and background vocal approaches to what you’ve done before. When you were doing it, how much of it was a natural fit coming from that world, versus, ‘I’m trying something new’?
With a lot of my music, I rely a lot on backing vocals… they play such a big part in all my songs. If you listen to “Magic,” that is SO backing vocal-driven. Even in “Tough,” … the layers that are embedded in that song are so real. When it came to “Blame,” it wasn’t necessarily like, ‘Oh, what can we do that is SO different?’ I just wanted to make something that felt anthemic. With the top line of that chorus, it was so easy to write harmonies into that. I just sat in the chair with a microphone, and we just looped it. We stacked it.
How tapped in are you with the scene back home? Maybe not the Omah Lay’s, the Tyla’s, the Burna Boy’s… but the stuff you wouldn’t necessarily hear on American radio like Tyler ICU, Majozi, Jeremy Loops.
I’m fairly tapped in. There’s Musa Keys… he was nominated for a Grammy last year with Davido for their song “UNAVAILABLE.” There’s such cool stuff coming out of Cape Town, and out of South Africa. Major League Djz, Shimza… they’re so sick. Black Coffee is obviously global stage. It’s incredible seeing the rumblings that are happening there. Omapiano is just soaring… it’s everywhere you go.
Why do you think the snippets of “Just Because I Called You” are hitting?
I feel like the hook is sticky. I wrote it the same summer I wrote “miss me.” We teased it in that same area, and it took off. I was like, ‘Oh, sick! I wanna release it now.’ Then, it ended up on the back burner. It’s a song I’ve really loved for three years, and to finally be able to put it out, I think FANS are going to love that. I feel like it’s gonna have a similar type “Gracie” moment amongst fans. There are so many times when you can pick the song you think is, like, THE HIT. What do you think people will love?? At the same time, I’m only here because of my fans. I’m only here because of the people that are going onto Spotify, typing Will Linley, and listening to my music. “Just Because I Called You” is THAT song that people have been wanting.
Do you think “Last Call” is now your signature song?
Yeah.
Linley, slightly flushed, leaned back, and smiled upon this query.
You do?
Yeah, I guess so.
He did so again, nearly knocking into the wall behind him.
How does that feel coming from “miss me…” being your signature song for a while, to now having a new one?
Sick, man. It’s a vibe. I always wanted to write a song that people could dance to. “Last Call” is that. I love where we play it in the set. It feels like such a great injection of energy into the end of the set. I love that that’s the song people are connecting with.
“Maybe” brought you out of your zone a little bit, too. Possibly the highest vocals you’ve reached for since “kill all my feelings.” As you begin to explore new parts of your range, and things that you’re doing with your voice… not just range wise, but with tone, things that keep your voice healthy, and that keep your artistry fresh, what are the characteristics that you’re finding in your voice that are evolving over time?
The big thing is that I’m just learning to control my voice a little better. I think one can grow their range, but only a specific amount. The interesting thing is being like, ‘Ok, how do we write impactful music, and impactful songs, that connect with people, that still feel comfortable and that I sound right on the song?’ It’s a little game that you play in sessions. There have been times I’ve tried to write a song that has been way too high, and we try to cut it, and I’m like, ‘Guys, I can’t really push for this one.’ It happens, and that’s ok. The most important thing is knowing my voice, knowing my sound, and staying to the world of Will Linley but pushing the boundaries a little bit.
From a mental health perspective, you’ve been open about feeling overworked recently. Were you prepared for what was inevitably going to happen when things began to take off, and what are the things you’re doing to navigate and mitigate what you’re feeling?
A big thing has been my faith. Realizing I don’t control anything that’s happening, and that it really is in God’s hands. Sometimes, when one tries to control too much, it can get really overwhelming. Anxiety can rise, and you try to hold tightly to things, and it can freak you out. For me, it’s like, ‘I’m one of the luckiest people in the world to be doing what I do. I live in Cape Town, South Africa. Now, we’re here in New York City. Like, what is life?’
Sometimes, one can get so stuck in numbers… in analytics, and I think I’ve just had to realize, ‘Man, you’re only doing this once. What’re you gonna tell your kids one day? That you were in the moment, and you got to play a show in New York City? Or, that you were freaking out cause you weren’t able to sell it out just yet?’ It’s part of the journey. There’s growth. There’s understanding. There are things I’m going to learn today that next time when we come back and we’ve sold out the Bowery Ballroom, I’m going to remember this moment.
What are you excited about right now?
I’m really excited to continue growing Will Linley. What does it look like if I wanted to put together an album? How do I tell that story? How do I do it in a euphoric way? How do I do it in a way where you watch all the music videos together, and there’s a throughline? You listen to the music, and the songs connect? All those transitions, everything that is unique to an album is what I’m really looking forward to next. Uncovering things about myself that I don’t know.
Right now, we’re playing these shows. Then I go back to South Africa, we’ve got a bunch of headline shows and then the whole summer of festival season. But, I’m never not writing music, and I feel like I’m writing some of my best stuff yet.
Follow Will Linley on Instagram
Words: Noah Wade