Photo credit: @wellkee_
Fresh off the success of previous single ‘Breakup Season’ earlier in the summer, singer, songwriter and guitarist Maya Delilah is back with the irresistibly bittersweet ‘Thank You’, the latest track to be revealed from her forthcoming sophomore EP.
Soulful piano and organ sit over the swing of a laid-back drum groove, as Maya’s sweetly understated vocals build towards the wailing guitar solo of the song’s climax. Lyrically, the song is a characteristically wry take on seeing the best side of having a relationship end, and this inventive combination of music and message make for a compellingly self-affirming whole.
Maya explains: “Thank You is a sincere goodbye song written ‘to my ex’ as the final chapter to this EP as it is the journey of my breakup. The main line of the song is “Thank you for being the worst thing that’s happened to me”. I wrote it with the meaning of basically “thank you for being so awful, it made losing you easier, with no doubts that I am better off”. But the aim of the song is to be more sincere than blunt. The song later on is about feeling more free, like I can almost ‘breathe again’. The song is very gospel inspired with a 6/8 time signature. It’s meant to feel like the big emotional outro of a live show.”
21-year-old Maya Delilah’s rise over the past year has been stratospheric. Making the best of lockdown by using social media as tool to connect to others through her music, she quickly became a viral sensation, garnering over 300k followers on TikTok and over 200k on Instagram. Turning her attention to releasing original music, Maya has over the past year amassed over 5 million plays on Spotify alone with a series of singles and an EP. She has moreover ushered a classic soul, jazz and pop-influenced songwriting tradition into the digital age, introducing it to a whole new generation. Drawing inspiration from artists like John Mayer, Daniel Caesar, D’Angelo and Vulfpeck, Maya has already won early key tastemaker acclaim from the likes of NOTION, ATWOOD, POPSUGAR, CELEBMIX, HASTE MAG and LOCK MAG.
As a fluent guitar expert and a Marshall Spotlight Artist, Maya began mastering the art of guitar playing at the age of 8 and unique guitar harmonies stand out within Maya’s music. Maya wants to show that girls can be extraordinary on guitar, combat the stereotype of it being ‘a male instrument’ and inspire women and young girls to take up instruments – a central element of her YouTube series, Table Time.
‘Thank You’ is a compelling showcase for Maya’s plethora of talents, and looks set to cement her place as one of the most gifted emerging talents of the moment – as well as offering an enticing glimpse of what to expect from her forthcoming EP.
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Credits: Photography by @wellkee_
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