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Words by Meg Sweeney
Brighton has a wonderful habit of minting bands that hit the moment you hear them, and Goodbye are one of them.
Goodbye are Alfie Beer (guitar), Megan Wheeler (vocals), Sarah Ryan (guitar, vocals), Jake Smith (bass) and Elik Eddy (drums). Two years after they began writing together, their debut single ‘Meat’ arrived 3 December 2025. It didn’t take long to find an audience, slipping promptly into the ears of NME, Dork, So Young and Radio 6. Whilst they’re equally baffled and buoyed by the attention, the reason for it is fairly straightforward: the music connects. ‘Meat’ is a strong first statement from a band who’ve spent time figuring themselves out on stage, supporting big Brighton homies Lambrini Girls and Lime Garden, and building a following the slow, convincing way.
Their sound is the result of beautifully misaligned expectations of what the band might be. Jangle, dream-pop and shoegaze threads are pulled from different corners, with The Sundays and Cocteau Twins brushing up against My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab harmonies colliding with percussion that owes more to Death Grips than any indie comfort zone. What emerges is a tapestry that feels familiar enough to sink into but strange enough to stay with you - airy and gory, sweet and feral, glittering guitars framing lyrics that cut straight to the bone.
‘Meat’ was the first song Goodbye wrote together as a full five-piece in 2024. It opens with the juxtaposition of shimmering guitars and grotesque imagery: “Pull my bones out / strip them right down.” The initial sparseness of the instrumentation and vocal delivery creates a quiet intensity that blooms into a layered, ghostly crescendo. It’s this push and pull, this instinct for contrast, that gives Goodbye an elusive edge. Ethereal vocals are held front and centre, carrying the tension between vulnerability and rage and euphoria. Lyrics tell the story of a violent undoing of the self at another's hands or perhaps an emphatic shedding of old skin to be reborn again. The beauty’s in the ambiguity.
Brighton is a big part of the story. We had the pleasure of chatting to Alfie, Sarah and Jake, who openly and gushingly spoke about friendship, community and the joy of finally sharing something that’s been carefully built together. It’s a glimpse into a band at the start of something very special, grounded in place and genuinely excited about what comes next.
'Meat' artwork
What were the beginnings of Goodbye?
Alfie: It started from a conversation in the pub between myself and Jake in January 2024. We wanted to do something different. I've been so lucky to be in many musical projects and I've loved every single one of them dearly, but I was just itching to play guitar again. Jake is a bassist and we were like, “fuck it, let's put some pedals on and give it a whirl.”
From there, it kind of snowballed. We heard that Meg Wheeler who we worked with at Green Door could sing. We roped her in - voice of an absolute angel. We needed another guitarist and we all knew of the mythical beast that is Sarah Ryan from her wonderful, many projects. We were mesmerised by her talent in Gene Pool and it was a terrifying thing messaging Sarah. We had some jams as the four of us with actual musical sparks. The project moved away very quickly from what I had originally thought it was going to be, and it became just our own thing. Drummers are always weird, elusive ones. But we found a guy with pink hair. Didn't know if he was called Eric or Elik. The first jam session we had all together is where our first single ‘Meat’ was born from.
It’s cool that ‘Meat’ was one of the first songs you wrote together. Why did it become the track to introduce Goodbye? And why have you waited until now to release it?
Sarah: It was partly to do with the reception that the song got during our live shows and it was the formation of the sound that started to represent the five of us - it was the first proper collaboration. I guess we held off for so long because I think we all really wanted to have a fully formed sound and fully formed everything. We've all got the hindsight of being in other projects and we just wanted to come fresh out with us.
I actually caught your first show at Rossi back in 2024. How does it feel now your debut single’s finally out in the world?
Jake: It hasn't really felt like it's been a big, long wait for me. It's probably been two years since we started writing but about 14 months since our first show - it's just been a natural progression. It never felt like there wasn't the right time, I think now we just felt like it was the right time.
Sarah: Now it feels like we have a bit of a plan. We’ve just written so much material. It's nice to be in a position that if people are interested in backing us putting out music, we know we’ve got the next one sorted.
Alfie: Also in that time, it's allowed friendships to blossom into what is now a family. In that first show, we all knew each other, but not really that well. We came from different worlds to do this project together and now we've got the five of us in the most secure little circle. It feels like it's us and we've got that unit thing. Having that has made releasing really, really special. We didn’t ever want to rush and waited till it was perfect. Each practice, you just walk into a room with your four best friends around you - it's a bloody sweet old time.
That’s so lovely to hear. The song itself opens with those vivid, gory lyrics over glittery guitars. It’s quite a striking contrast. Can you talk about how you pull your songs together?
Sarah: A theme of the project is bittersweetness. There's always been a push and pull between melancholy and dark alongside something ethereal. Even when we were trying to pick the name that was in there, and that's how we ended up on Goodbye - something that’s bittersweet. It kind of just happened that way but I really love that juxtaposition, it brought something almost feral out of Meg and I wouldn't have necessarily expected that from what's turned out to be quite a dreamy track. I think because we all have such different musical influences, we're pulling each other in different directions and that's what makes it the collaboration.
And what are the main influences for the project?
Sarah: When Alfie sent me the first message asking to be in the project, he asked if I wanted to be in a jangle-pop shoegaze band. But I don't think we really are that. Alfie wanted it to be jangle and Jake wanted it to be shoegaze.
Jake: A big part of the way the band sounds is that there are very few shared influences. I think what Sarah was touching on there is true. When Alfie said to me, “do you want to do a shoegaze dream-pop thing?”, I think in his head it was The Sundays or Cocteau Twins and in my head I was like, “this is going to be sick, I'm going to be in My Bloody Valentine 2.” Then we told Meg that, and Meg thought it was going to sound like Stereolab. As time went on, there were just so many different influences. Elik’s drums are so melodic and they've got a real hookiness to them, which I think is such a Zach Hill/Death Grips influence, which is a crazy thing to say when you pair it with Meg wanting to do nice harmonies and Alfie wanting to do some jangly, dreamy guitars.
Goodbye photographed by Annie Dorrett
The reaction has been amazing so far from the likes of NME, Dork, So Young and Radio 6. How has that early attention felt from your side?
Alfie: It’s really strange but also really, really great that this bit of art that we believe is organic and genuinely us is resonating with people. It’s a truly wonderful feeling. If you asked the one thing you want to achieve out of being in a band, my answer would be to connect with people, and to be able to connect with people whilst being this vulnerable and honest to ourselves is just a miraculous feeling. I feel truly blessed to have that privilege.
Sarah: I don't want to speak on behalf of Meg, but when we spoke about this for another interview, she said that she purposely kept the lyrics quite vague and open, so people can relate to it in their own ways. It's not like we ever set out to make something that was hashtag relatable, but the fact that it does resonate is really nice. I think it's kind of sus! I just think it's crazy and funny to me that you make music with your band, and you've got such a great feeling while you're writing, and you believe that it's a great thing but we always had the worry that it was a bit delusional, and if we put a single out and it might flop. So it feels validating that other people think the music’s okay.
How was the release show at Bella Union? Did playing ‘Meat’ live post-release feel different?
Alfie: I think I disagree! The fact that we announced it a week before, and to see that many beautiful faces in the room, it took me a moment. To build this release up for such a long time and then to see such a busy room of people there for that thing that you had done, was like, “wow.” I felt really nervous for the show. It was actually a really great feeling.
Sarah: I felt super nervous before the show as well, and it was a really intimate setting but I wasn't expecting to feel it so much. I ended up tapping into muscle memory to try and play the track because the feeling of so many eyes on us in that moment, it was like, “oh my god, don't fuck it up.”
That’s amazing. And how do you think being part of Brighton’s scene has shaped your sound or the way you work together?
Alfie: I just love this place. I moved around a hell of a lot as a kid and this is the first time where I feel like I'm at home. Seeing so many wonderful people around who are all working so unbelievably hard to the best of their abilities to achieve this dream in their head. I think we truly are a product of our surroundings and it's pushed us to be who we are and to keep improving and keep growing. It's actually nice to take a step back and appreciate that gratitude for the place, rather than that being taken for granted because others aren't as lucky.
Jake: Well, me and Sarah are actually from Brighton, which is a rare thing, and Elik our drummer lived here until he was six and then came back. As Alfie said, he’s so grateful for the place but it’s always just been where I’m from, and so I do probably take it for granted, but there’s a reason we’re still here. The music scene here is from so many people who found Brighton.
Sarah: We're such a product of the Brighton music scene and all of the venues and bands and promoters and everyone just giving us a chance. It's a very open minded scene, and it's one that doesn't really feel competitive. It’s so nice to come home to because it's such a good community. I think especially in a place that has such a sense of subculture and a diverse music culture, it's really interesting at some of our shows to see people from all of those different little sub-scenes coming together to watch us and appreciate our music. It's just the best place ever.
So, as we’re nearing the end of 2025, is there anything you’re hoping you can finally say “goodbye” to next year?
Alfie: I found out this year that I like soup. I've never tried soup, so I'm saying goodbye to my disdain of soup and embracing it for the year to come. I want to try every type there is and it's gonna be magical.
Jake: I’m happy with saying goodbye to not having music out and hello to having music out.
Alfie: Hopefully goodbye to Farage as well.
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