Will Linley is the guy you strike up a conversation with while waiting for your drink at Starbucks. He’s the guy who gets thousands of views within hours of posting a 30-second cover of an Ed Sheeran song to his IG story. He’s the guy who mingles with everyone and their mother at parties. He is just… THAT guy. Will Linley’s success isn’t so different from Khalid, who blew up as a teenager with songs like “Location” and “Young, Dumb, and Broke.” Nor is it different from Conan Gray, who has made it big with music that speaks openly and honestly about the gay experience as a young adult. Linley’s music, online presence, and general aesthetic is fun, honest, and youthful, so it is no wonder that he is quickly making a name for himself in pop music. 

Linley, who was born and raised in South Africa, burst onto the scene in 2021 with his debut single “miss me (when you’re gone),” a song that, even on first listen, felt like the “perfect” pop song. A barebones intro, a catchy hook that builds suspense each time it’s repeated, a bridge that releases that suspense, and one more big go-around of the chorus with tons of vocal layers, adlibs, and massive pop production. The accompanying music video does a great job of enhancing the story, visually portraying the euphoria, youthful energy, and conflict surrounding Linley’s failed love affair with gorgeous DIY camera work. He used Tik Tok to promote the track, posting snippets of it from developmental stages to completion. It gained interest quickly, and, upon release, garnered strong airplay on South African radio. His success came rather quickly and unexpectedly, and Linley has had to make it work, for the most part, on his own. “I’m just trying to embrace the change,” he said. “I’m trying to embrace the discomfort, and embrace all of the things that I don’t know, and the fear that that brings. I just try and dive into the deep end.” 

Like some of the best male voices in pop music, such as Justin Bieber and Lauv, Linley’s vocal abilities come across as natural, and like it could weave in and out of genres. However, there was still some training involved. “Voice was my instrument,” he said, having taken his ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) certification in school. “A lot of it is classical training. Like learning how to sing a German classical piece, how to sing in four-part harmonies, and studying music history of Beethoven or Mozart concertos.”

His journey to contemporary pop music was a little less defined, but he soon found his way.

“Growing up in South Africa, there weren’t musicians that I was like, ‘I can watch this person… THAT’S who I’m chasing,’” he said. “I never really thought it could be a career opportunity, but then TikTok started moving, and I had the songs I’d worked on in my bedroom, then one thing led to another and now, here I am, a year later, trying to take it all in.” He takes inspiration from a plethora of different singers and songwriters, but referenced Jon Bellion, and his recent work on Justin Bieber’s Justice album, specifically the song “Anyone,” as a major influence, as well as an Irish band called Pictureless, Ed Sheeran, and Dean Lewis. “I love those singer-songwriters that really tell stories with their words,” he said. “As an up-and-coming writer and pop performer, those are the people I’m trying to emulate and draw inspiration from while also being my own artist that is unique to me.” 

Linley followed up “miss me (when you’re gone)” with the equally infectious “wrong time,” about a love that, for whatever reason, wasn’t meant to be in the moment, but one he knows he will always carry with him; “She was the right girl at the wrong time. Don’t have eyes for anyone, my heart is blind. It makes goodbyes worse, but I’m alright. And I know that I will want you even if you’re not mine.”

The videos for both tracks show Linley as a happy-go-lucky twenty-something, eager to be in love and eager to be happy without it. We see small windows of his moments of self-reflection where he allows himself to show the emotions that love, good or bad, can carry, but his goal is to project happiness onto others. “It’s an understanding that who I want to be is a positive individual,” he said. “Someone that brings positivity to the table. I’m not someone who wants to be draining that away from the world. There are days I feel bleak, and down and out, and sad, as it is with everyone, but I think who I am at my core is someone who tries to have a positive outlook on life and tries to bring the best out of other people. It’s like… let’s put a smile on our face, because it can make somebody’s day.” 

His most recent single, “I don’t wanna be yours,” was released earlier this year, and he is gearing up for the release of a new track, “kill all my feelings,” which he has been teasing on TikTok since January and opening recent shows with. KAMF, which sounds like an absolute banger, is the lead single off Linley’s upcoming EP, and is described as his “alt/pop-rock emo vibe.” Captions on TikToks featuring snippets of the track dub its bridge as the best he’s ever written. “Let’s just push the boundaries a bit,” he said. “Let’s do something people won’t expect.” He won’t give too much of it away, but it has the potential to be his biggest song yet. 

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This method of building songs on TikTok and building a fanbase before anything is even released did not exist five years ago, but Linely feels like he is part of the generation spearheading this new digital development. “I don’t know a music industry without TikTok,” he said, with a slightly confused look on his face. “It’s so interesting. The music industry that I’m growing up in, and that, suddenly, I’m a part of now, is an industry dominated by TikTok. I haven’t felt the change, per se, because I didn’t know what it was before. I don’t love the app, I don’t hate it, I’m kind of in-between with it. I really just try to broaden my knowledge in whatever realm I can as long as it can help my music.”

Linley is in the midst of a six-show solo run in Africa where he plays his released tracks, KAMF, as well as a few freshly written tunes. To pad the runtime, he is also known to do an acoustic cover of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and says he’s considering tackling Ed Sheeran’s “Castle On The Hill” or either “Love Story” or “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift at future shows. He’ll be going out on tour as the opening act for Matthew Mole this coming fall. 

At the end of the day, Linley is all about authenticity, open communication, and staying true to himself. “I really try and show the real me through social media, through videos, through everything,” he said. “I think the minute that artists build up a certain persona, and build up to be something that they’re not, that’s when they’re building a base on a very loose foundation. I’m trying to build my artistry, my career, and my brand on something that is real. The only way that I know that is by smiles and trying to spread positivity.”

You can stream “miss me (when you’re gone),” “wrong time,” and “I don’t wanna be yours” here

You can follow Will Linley on social media via the links below.
Instagram / Twitter / YouTube / TikTok / Facebook /  Tour