Q&A: Dela Kay Unravels the Illusion of Love on “Guilty Conscience”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
Photo Credit: Working Holiday
DELA KAY IS SPEAKING HER TRUTH AND NOT HOLDING ANYTHING BACK — Alt-pop singer-songwriter Dela Kay is no stranger to emotional honesty, but with her latest single “Guilty Conscience,” she pushes that vulnerability into bold, theatrical territory. The track is a sharp, guitar-driven confession that fuses shimmering 80s synth nostalgia with an unfiltered alt-pop punk bite. It’s dramatic, self-aware, and irresistibly and captures the emotional whiplash of love with its obsession, betrayal, and the uncomfortable gray areas that exist in the digital age.
“‘Guilty Conscience’ came from a very personal place,” Dela Kay says. “I wanted to say everything I’d never say and get it off my chest — funny, cheeky, but real. Everyone has experienced betrayal, and this song talks about the kind that happens online too — virtual cheating, gaslighting, all that messy stuff.”
At the emotional core of “Guilty Conscience” lies one of its most revealing moments: the unraveling at the end of the second verse. As Dela Kay sings, “Tell me that I'm something special / Tell me that I'm something nice / That you'll never leave me lonely / That's a lie,” the illusion of romance fractures in real time.
For Dela Kay, this lyrical pivot reflects the emotional whiplash of love-bombing and performative affection of the intoxicating high of being idealized, followed by the gutting realization that it was never as safe as it felt. It marks the second where sweetness gives way to disillusionment, where the “shoe drops.” In that recognition, “Guilty Conscience” evolves from a story of heartbreak into one of self-empowerment, allowing anger, humor, and honesty to coexist in a way that feels both liberating and real.
Written in Nashville alongside Nick Cozine and Jake Finch, the single co-produced by Stefano Pigliapoco, the result is a track that feels cathartic and cinematic.
The single’s visuals mirror its dramatic spirit, leaning fully into 80s-inspired theatrics. In the music video, Dela Kay stands center stage beneath a single spotlight framed by a rich red curtain, shifting through different personas and outfits with striking flair. Each transformation reflects the song’s emotional twists, reinforcing her ability to embody chaos and vulnerability all at once.
With “Guilty Conscience,” Dela Kay doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable truths of love and heartbreak, instead, she amplifies them, turning messy emotions into an empowering anthem. As she puts it, she hopes listeners feel “seen, entertained, and maybe even a little empowered to call out the chaos in their own lives.”
Photo Credit: Working Holiday
LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since
the last time we talked last summer for your “Saving Face” release. I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked.
DELA KAY: I feel like a lot has changed since “Saving Face.” I think that with the last singles leading up to my EP, it was super exciting, because it was the first time I've been able to hone in on my sound and have a body of work to show. I'm really proud of that EP. I think coming out of that EP, it's always a nerve wracking thing, where you're like, where do I go from here? Is it all going to fit together? Is it all going to be separate?
I've been definitely playing around with different sounds and trying to figure out if I want to go more in the alternative lane or keep things more pop. I know that with my EP and “Saving Face,” a lot of those songs were definitely more in the pop punk lane. The pop elements there, I used a lot of auto tune on purpose on my vocals to just be vibey on a lot of those songs. Coming out of that, I definitely wanted to mess around a little bit more with delving a little bit more into the alternative lane and using the auto tune sparingly. I wanted to have it feel a bit more alternative based, a little bit more rock-based. My first song of the year was “Remedy,” and that had a little 90s rock and indie feel.
All the songs this year leading up to “Guilty Conscience,” all the songs are definitely more in the alternative lane, and a bit more indie-leaning than my last EP. “Guilty Conscience” was fun because I did it with a childhood friend of mine named Jake Finch. He's a sick producer, an amazing songwriter, and he's been working on a bunch of cool projects, so to see him since childhood, coming up and just fucking crushing it has been amazing. His vibe is very organic, a very indie type of beat. So doing a session with him, and then my buddy Nick Cozine — who worked with me on “Saving Face” and “Falling Into Place” off my last EP. I don't think I have any other songs that really have that 80s feel like this song, so I think having Jake's touch on it has been really cool.
LUNA: You just released your newest single “Guilty Conscience” and you’ve described the song as “saying everything you’d never say out loud.” What is the inspiration behind the track or the feeling that pushed this story to the surface?
DELA KAY: At the time, I was still processing some feelings from a previous relationship I had. I didn't really know what we were going to write that day, or what the vibe was going to be at all and we started messing around. When we got into it, at first I thought it was going to be a ballad or a really sad song.
By the time we got to the chorus, the vibe shifted into a fun, rageful expression of my situation. I feel like the song is pretty self explanatory about my experience or the experience I had with somebody. I was really nervous about releasing this song for a long time. I kept it in my vault of songs as a private experience for myself. I was afraid that anything I might say might hurt somebody else. I was trying to balance that line of what I wanted to do, as far as how personal I wanted to be with a song, and after sitting on it for a long time, obviously feeling subsided, I was able to look at things objectively. I hope that by releasing the song that people and fans who listen to it — if they've been in a similar situation as me — maybe find some closure with me along with some of the things I was experiencing.
Photo Credit: Working Holiday
LUNA: Is there a lyric or moment in the track that feels like the emotional heart of the whole piece for you?
DELA KAY: At the end of the second verse, “You'll never leave me lonely / But that's a lie” It leads into the chorus. It's the second half of the verse, “Tell me that I'm something special / Tell me that I'm something nice / That you'll never leave me lonely / That's a lie.” Because I feel like a lot of times in these love bomb-y situations or relationships people get in, it's the fantasy of the relationship, or the fantasy of the love that you're experiencing is so real in the moment. When reality sets in, it's heartbreaking. I wanted to have something like that in there, along with the fun, ragey element. There is a tinge, especially in the verses of that, here was this sweet setup of a relationship, and then it quickly fades into something where reality sets in, and the shoe drops.
Another one is the post-chorus and it goes, “I do it again and again and again.” It's really hard when you see the good sides of people and how amazing they can be, and then experience a complete opposite version of them. You're hooked on the fantasy, so you try to keep it alive by maybe pushing past your own boundaries to keep it going, and you keep just letting that person in. At the end of the day, you have to take accountability and say, ‘I let them do it again and again and again,’ and the chorus moment for me is getting to the point where it's taking ownership and taking control.
LUNA: I would love to touch more on the creative process behind the single. You worked alongside Nick Cozine and Jake Finch, and co-produced with Stefano Pigliapoco. What was it like bringing them into your creative process, and how did they influence the sound of the single?
DELA KAY: Jake has such a great creative brain and is such a Nashville guy through and through. He's really about the heart of the song and the feeling sonically. He has a really pretty acoustic guitar in there, and some of those things that are more organic elements, add a bit more of a genuine vibe to the song.
In the pop world a lot of the time, everything's very electronic. I think that having some of those elements in here was really nice, and then being able to write with him and Nick — Nick is such an amazing songwriter. I feel like he's always just being honest and saying what it is, and being simple about it. Sometimes I over complicate and overthink things, and having Nick in the room is always great. I think his writing definitely is so clever, and his melodies are really, really solid. And then obviously Stef, who I've worked with now on all the EP songs, I think he's so glued into that alt world and has these big drums and big guitars. He also loves 80s soundscapes, so being able to add some of those shimmery guitars on the choruses that just have that really striking 80s feel was really cool. I feel like this song came together, probably the fastest that any of my other songs have come together. I think the demo itself was so solid, and then being able to move it through the process to where it is now. Everything flowed naturally.
LUNA: The single artwork and music video tap into full 80s aesthetics. In the video, you move between different characters with dramatic flair. What inspired that visual world and how was your experience filming it?
DELA KAY: Working Holiday did my visuals. They're an amazing group of people to work with out of Nashville. Chase Denton was directing, and he did my artwork. His eyes are really great and I feel like we share a lot of the same dramatic visual ideas. He came up with the curtain idea and had pulled some references of some looks, and I was loving the moody 80s glam, but it still remained the moody emo vibe.
I had a friend of mine, Leah, who is an owner of a vintage shop in Nashville — Lucky Star Vintage — and she does styling. I was so lucky to have her pull looks with me for this shoot. We went straight for the lace. She had the white outfit that I'm wearing and she had all these little tiny pieces that she just pieced together on my body. We had come across some black pieces that were lingerie pieces. In the song and the verses, I was innocent and I was viewing this relationship as this fantasy, and now I'm brought to reality. The white outfit, that whole Madonna, virgin look is very 80s wifey, picket fence was trying to capture that more innocent look. The other look is emulating this person's dark fantasy that maybe they were searching for, and also just being my own muse and shaking it up a bit. We decided to have that contrast of we're almost like angel and devil.
I think as an indie artist, independent, completely funding yourself, it's hard to get the creative aspects you want with a budget. Balling on a budget. I think that they were able to really emulate what I was hoping for and they did an amazing job, and I'm very happy with it.
LUNA: You’ve said you aim for songs that feel “real, raw and relatable.” What does authenticity look like for you in this era of your artistry?
DELA KAY: People, and myself included, I think just in the world right now with music and also AI and all of the things that are happening, people's attention span is so tapped and shortened. We're all looking for that instant gratification and it can take you away from the actual enjoyment of creating and what it means to be an artist and what you have to say, and just the importance of keeping true to who you are.
I think that with these songs, I've hit a limit where I'm not afraid to say things that are too much and to explore new sounds, and not being afraid to experiment with more 80s synths. It’s about living in whatever feels real and right to you. I feel like I'm definitely tapping into that a lot more with the songs that I put out this year, especially with this one. I feel like this one, if there's ever a song I've released that's like it's not so vulnerable in the way where it's so heartfelt, but it is scary. Having a song where you're like, here are the things that I wanted to say, but I never thought I was ever going to, it's scary.
To put that out in the world for people to hear is scary, but it's also super freeing to be able to just get it off your chest and have it live in a place and be its own bubble in time and then you move on. Not being afraid of saying what you feel in any given situation, and putting that into music, I think, is super important. And I try to do that as much as I can. For this song, I hope that leaving this year, I just want listeners to know that they're empowered to speak their truth. Never be afraid to say how you feel. Don't hold back. You know, just be yourself. Be authentic, be kind, but also let people have it if they need to.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
DELA KAY: We run the world. Ladies, we are out here and in a time, more than ever, we need to be uplifting each other and supporting each other. Unfortunately, in the dating era of 2025, sometimes it's not the best. I think that a lot a lot is put on women, whether it be in the music industry or just in life. In the climate of everything going on right now, there is a lot of pressure put on women. And also not even just pressure, but almost this long line of shame as women that we have to carry.
I think that going through these experiences, I feel like it's always labeled a woman's fault for things, and that's why women don't speak out about a lot of different things, whether it be a relationship or a number of different cases where maybe a woman was wronged or wasn't treated fairly. I think that we tend to be made to feel like our voices don't matter, and that we just have to deal with it, and I'm the firmest believer that we don't have to deal with it. I think more women should be speaking up more about their experiences and their truths, and that way more women can come together and support one another, and also let the people know, let the men know that, we aren’t having it and we’re not going to be quiet.
LUNA: What is fueling your fire right now that’s pushing you into this new chapter in your career?
DELA KAY: I think the songs that I put out this year, particularly coming up off the EP, are definitely more in the alt lane. I have an idea of where I want to go into this next year.
I do like a little bit more of the 80s vibe, like, Doja Cat, for instance, went full 80s. I'm not necessarily talking that 80s, but I think not being afraid to jump out of the emo lane. If I vibe with some more indie-alt stuff, I want to live in whatever feels right for me moving forward. I think that there’s a huge part of me that is rooted in the pop-punk scene. I always want to be releasing music in that lane, but I also have a lot of cool acoustic ideas and more broken down stuff.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
DELA KAY: I’m just trying a bunch of different things coming into 2026 but I know that the songs that I've done this year, listening back to it in comparison to my EP, it reminds me of bands like The Band CAMINO. I like feeling that big band, indie vibe, and so I want to explore that going into the new year and definitely getting my live show together. That's like the top priority for me for 2026 is getting my live show together, which is not an easy thing to do, so we are on it, but hopefully planning on prioritizing live shows in 2026 and hopefully taking these songs and a handful of songs I already have for next year and compiling it into either an EP or album. I'm super excited. I'm just really inspired by more indie-alt music right now, and I'm really vibing with stuff that feels really organic and big band. I will be messing around with that a bit more and see what happens.
Photo Credit: Working Holiday
