Maya Delilah’s ‘The Long Way Round’: A Nostalgic Debut That Feels Like Home
On March 18, 2025, °1824 held a press conference with up-and-coming Blue Note Records artist Maya Delilah ahead of the release of her debut album, The Long Way Round, out March 28th. The new album is a nostalgic trip down memory lane for Delilah, and she said that hopes the album "feels like home to people."
A medical-turned-music student who attended the prestigious BRIT school, Delilah has always had a passion for her music. She said that she was involved in jazz bands in her youth which taught her valuable soloing and improvisation skills, and she was able to learn multiple instruments including guitar with these skills. When deciding to follow music as a career, her mother gave her advice that so many other musicians will hear; "What would Prince do?" Inspired by John Mayer, Derek Trucks, and Antonio Forcione, and, of course, Prince, she took the dive and decided to pursue music full-time.
Delilah originally gained a fanbase because of TikTok, like so many other young artists, and grew her following with the release of "Breakup Season", which now has 11 million streams and counting on Spotify. She was named to Fender's Next "Class of 2024" and was named a Spotify 2025 Artist to Watch, two major accomplishments for the 24-year-old.
Her debut album is a culmination of Maya's life up until this point, focusing on her friends and family, childhood, and lessons she has learned. The album has a homespun quality to it because of Maya's writing style, relying more on the feel of the music and less on theory. She said that while writing, the idea of strict music theory "takes her out of the room" and she hopes that her unique take on song structures and keys makes the audience feel her emotions more closely. She also did not choose to stick to one specific genre, as so many do, and decided that the unique quality will turn away those who do not appreciate it but pull her true fans in closer.
Art outside of music is a huge part of Maya's image as well, taking inspiration from other Blue Note record covers and magazines for the cover of her debut album. She chose the font and color of the font on the cover to pay homage to Blue Note legends like Miles Davis, and she decided to go with a fully black and white cover both because of the nostalgia factor and because she believes it looks cleaner. She also decided to include the tapes that the album was recorded on to bring that feat to the forefront of the image of the album.
Maya also uses lyric videos to bring art into her image, using her character, Spike, to tell stories in her videos. Originally inspired by the Peanuts characters, specifically Snoopy, she has grown attached to her character and says that sometimes he can make her cry because of how cute he is and how proud she is of the character and messages.
Delilah said she is excited to reach new and old fans with her new album and tour, specifically saying she was excited to be able to perform the album just like it was written. The whole album was performed with a live band performing in the same room, and Maya said she is taking all those musicians on her next tour, making the performances more special than a normal performance. Make sure to look out for her on her next US tour, and you can find her on Instagram and TikTok @mayadelilahh, and online at mayadelilah.com.