Myles Sky’s new single, “Goodbye Letter”, plays like a document found in a time capsule you buried for yourself only yesterday. It’s the sound of a very specific, solitary ritual: the final message written not to be sent, but to be known. It’s an act of emotional carbon dating, a way of proving to yourself that you were here, that you felt this, and that you are now moving on.
There’s a peculiar honesty here. This Saltburn-by-the-sea songwriter understands that some dialogues are dead, acknowledging that “some ghosts don’t answer letters.” The purpose, then, isn’t persuasion; it’s an inventory. Sky isn’t trying to win an argument, he’s simply taking stock of “all the versions of me that tried to stay.” This line snagged in my mind, making me think of the concentric rings of a tree, each one a silent record of a different season of survival. The song is an emotional archive, shelving past selves with a quiet, knowing sigh.
This is a pop song stripped of its flashbangs. Instead, there’s the resolute calm of someone who has finally decided to walk out of a burning building and is clear-eyed enough to vow, “this time I’m not burning again.” It carries the weary strength of someone who has swapped out fury for the more sustainable energy of acceptance. After the unexpected success of his track “overthinking,” this single feels like a deliberate next step, solidifying a voice that finds power in vulnerability ahead of his November 29th album.
It isn’t a song about the drama of the split, but about the profound quiet that comes much, much later. What a terribly peaceful sound it is when someone finally puts down the pen.
