Saturday Conversation: Britain’s Maya Delilah Is A Future Superstar

If you became a music journalist for the right reasons – not for the perks, to hang with rock stars, to be cool, definitely not for the money – it’s a damn tough job in 2025. There are diminishing outlets, it pays for s**t, and you’re competing with AI for jobs. So why do it?

Maya Delilah. If you became a music journalist for the right reasons, it’s because when you discover any artist you love you want to amplify that message with a megaphone. Well, this is me screaming go listen to Maya Delilah’s unreal debut The Long Way Round.

A masterpiece of mood, vibes and guitar, it is one of those once-a-decade debuts that makes every tough day as a music journalist worth it.

I spoke with Delilah, who had better be nominated for Best New Artist Grammy in 2026 (if there are 10 better debuts in 2025, hell, if there are two, I’ll sit through a week’s worth of Phish shows, which I’d rather stick needles in my eyes, but it’s okay, there will not be!), about Prince, guitars, defying genres, loss and more. Ladies and gentlemen, future superstar Maya Delilah.

Steve Baltin: I was just talking last week with Luke Pritchard from The Kooks, who is an old friend. We were having a conversation about how the debut album is so special because you have your whole life to work up to it. You get to put everything you want into it. Do you feel that was the case for you?

Maya Delilah: Oh yeah, completely. It feels like I had complete autonomy over the whole thing and it feels like a proper accumulation of my life so far.

Baltin: So, your life has a lot of guitar. Is there a guitar solo anonymous? I saw you think you have a problem.

Delilah: Yeah, I do find it hard not to add a guitar solo to a song. I had to hold back, I think there’s five songs on the album that don't have one, but I would if I could.

Baltin: I just interviewed Carlos Santana, so we were talking a lot about guitar solo. Who are your favorite guitarists?

Delilah: I actually referenced a Santana solo in my song “Actress.” I was kind of going for their vibe, so it's funny, that's a coincidence. My favorite guitarist is Derek Trucks, the emotional playing of like not too much shredding, but more like sung out notes to make it sound emotional. Like it's singing is what I always go for. That's heavily influenced by him, also a bit of John Mayer, a bit of BB King.

Baltin: One of my favorite songs on the record is “Never With You,” because that reminds me so much of an electric version of Nick Drake, who I'm obsessed with.

Delilah: I'm so glad you said that. Thank you. Yeah. I was listening to a lot of Nick Drake while I was making this record, especially the second half of it. And yeah, I knew I wanted to start the album and finish the album with a big guitar solo, which is why I put "Begin Again" at the front and "Never With You" at the end. They're kind of a similar vibe. But yeah, I'm glad that you got a bit of Nick Drake through that.

Baltin: I love “Squeeze” because I'm a huge Sly Stone fan and it's like out of nowhere is this huge funk thing.

Delilah: Thank you. Yeah, I'm so glad that it found its place in there because I've never dared to make a funk song. It actually came really naturally from my bass and drummer grooving the groove that you hear throughout. So, I never had to be like, “I'm going to make a funk song.” I feel like that would have been too much of a challenge, but it came so naturally that it just slotted in where it needed to.

Batin: It stands out so much. Will the next record now be your funk album?

Delilah: It might be. The thing that I found with this record was I had been suppressing so many different genres that I'd wanted to make music from for like five years. This has been me completely letting go of that and just allowing whichever genre or mood I'm in to dictate what I make that day. And I'm going to live by that for as long as I make music now.

Baltin: Why were you suppressing the different genres?

Delilah: Because I really found that when I started out in the industry, I was told to have a consistent sound. The industry wants you to have a consistent sound so they can market it easier. So, I was constantly battling with whether I wanted to make folk music or soul music, or pop music and I could never really pick a lane and I found it really frustrating.

Baltin: It's funny though because when you think of the greatest artists of all time, whether it's Joni, whether it's Prince, whether it's Bowie, no matter who it is, no one has one genre. Who are those artists who inspired you in the way they broke rules?

Delilah: Prince for sure as the number one. Prince and Joni are two of my biggest inspirations that broke boundaries. Bob Dylan. There's so many. There are even current artists like Anderson Paak, he is so versatile and really made a switch up when he did Silk Sonic, and I thought that was really cool and just shows that there's so much potential to do so many different things. But my main inspiration is Prince, also D’Angelo as well.

Baltin: So, the greatest party I ever went to in my life was at one of the parties at Prince's house. His publicist was a friend of mine and got me into the party. Walking around in there, and there's one room that's packed can't get in there walk around to see Joni Mitchell Is in there playing pool? So, would you rather play pool with Joni Mitchell or jam with Prince?

Delilah: Oh my god! That’s the best question ever. I’m s**t at pool, so I’m going to have to say a jam with Prince.

Baltin: Which of your songs would you want to jam with Prince on?

Delilah: It would definitely be “Squeeze.”

Baltin: Who would be the dream artist to tour with? Not in terms of someone you think would be like a good business match, but just someone you would love to watch from the side of the stage every night.

Delilah: Probably John Mayer.

Baltin: If you're doing an all-star benefit, you and John are on at the end, what's the song that you guys are jamming on? You always close a benefit with a cover. To me the best closing song of all time is “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley.

Delilah: Yeah, great song. Oh Man, that's such a question. Maybe “Purple Rain,” that is a great guitar song. I was going to say some extended version, but it's already extended to f**k. Maybe that or I might say “Piano Man” because I feel like that will be rogue and kind of fun to figure out on guitar. I'd love to hear John Mayer sing that song as well.

Baltin: Do you hear from fans how your music inspires them?

Delilah: Yeah, and the best thing that I ever hear is that it's inspired people to learn the guitar and play the guitar. That's the best thing I hear, especially from young women. It's the best feeling ever. Music has changed my life and helped my life in so many ways. And it's crazy to think that it will do that for other people. I've been listening to so many records that I grew up while making this record. So, for me it sounds super nostalgic and I either hope that it sounds nostalgic to people straight away that that may have been listening to similar records growing up or it’s also it's such a cool thought to think that people will be like at all ages listening to this. Hopefully in however many years’ time it will feel nostalgic to them one day as well. That's real cool.

Baltin: It's interesting how it is nostalgic to you because I saw where you said that and I wondered about that for a new debut album.

Delilah: I just mean for me it has so many themes of beginning and starting again. I think that I wanted it to sound like a Sunday morning record where it's super soft and warm and it's done on tape and it’s made in such an analog old -school way and I listened to a lot of records that were like Norah Jones and Joni and Don McLean and lots of records that I find nostalgic so I just hope it feels warm and like home to people as well.

Baltin: What has been the biggest beginning and end in your life thus far?

Delilah: I think the biggest beginning has been signing to Blue Note because it's fully reworked how I make music and like the kind of music I make. I was really stuck before, and it felt like I signed and instantly I was on the right track again. The biggest end is probably just people dying.

Baltin: Sorry, was there one loss that really changed you the most?

Delilah: Yeah, one of my best friends died when I was 15. She was super into Derek Trucks type music and also country. Because of her I picked up the banjo and I played the banjo for years. I really got into a type of music that I still bring with me today and play today and it's also just reworked how I live my life in so many ways. I feel like I live life in a very fulfilling way and I see people of my age that don't and haven’ experienced loss and I can't help but wonder if it's tied.

Baltin: Are there moments you see your friend in this record?

Delilah: Definitely, I totally feel that way. I think in hindsight listening to this album and it feeling a lot like my childhood it feels like that has a big part of her in it as well. There's lots of talking about my childhood especially in my songs. I definitely see her in that part of my life for sure.