Mike Delevante - September Days (2025) Hi-Res

Americana legend returns with his first solo album 30 years after his recording debut.

Readers of a certain age, cast your mind back thirty years to when you first heard a beautiful album of brotherly harmonies (no, not the Everly Bros but at times not unlike them) and jangly guitars (something of a hark back to early rockabilly – a bit Buddy Holly, a bit Tom Petty). And think about that iconic title track, ‘Long About That Time’, which bounced out of the speakers and into the charts (the first alt-country (as it was then named) debut album to hit No. 1 on the newly-created Gavin Americana Chart). The Delevantes (Mike and Bob) were from New Jersey, and a major contribution to their sound and their success was having friend Garry Tallent (of E-Street Band fame) come to Nashville to produce (and play on) the album. Also amongst the players was another E-Street alumnus, Benmont Tench, on keyboards. Two albums in and then there was a long break as both Mike and Bob went into the graphic design business, largely because of poor support from their new record label, Capitol, for their second album, “Postcards from Along The Way“. Though Bob did release a trio of solo albums in the intervening years, it was 2021’s “A Thousand Turns” that was a return to the sound and style of the iconic first two albums; an album that came about after the brothers were invited by Tallent to play at a gig in New Jersey in support of Southside Johnny, at which Springsteen was a guest artist. It got the creative juices flowing, and enthusiasm for producing music re-energised.

But during the songwriting process for a follow-up, Mike Delevante realised that the songs he wanted to write were rather more personal to him than those on previous albums, and he did not feel comfortable putting these tracks on a duet album.

And so, with his first solo album, “September Days”, here is Mike Delevante, writing and singing all the songs, and with a new producer, Joe Pisapia, playing guitars and keyboards. The session players completed by the immense Garry Tallent on bass, Bruce Owings and/or Jamie Dick on drums, and brother Bob on occasional harmonica. All the memories of the early Delevantes’ albums come flying back, as the album kicks off with the lead single ‘The Rain Never Came’ which is an absolute cracker, all jangly guitars and heavy shades of The Byrds and Tom Petty on a song that is a riposte to doom merchants and their negative foretelling – “Clouds Unfolded / Lightning scolded / The wind blew me away / But the rain never came”. He sounds rather like Roger McGuinn, so the Byrds vibe is not a surprise. You remember what a fine guitarist Delevante is, but his voice was usually partially hidden as a harmony vocalist to brother Bob’s lead vocals. Not on this album, where he takes all the vocals in his weathered, melodic tone.

The jangly guitars continue on ‘When You’re Around‘ (and to be fair, throughout the album) with Pisapia and Delevante duelling constantly. The songs are catchy throughout; and lyrically it is clearly a personal venture (that brother Bob was happy to support). The songs capture elements of Delevante’s past, early love (‘When You’re Around‘), childhood infatuation (the nostalgic ‘Adelaine (September Days)’, in which a young boy has a wistful longing for his teacher, hence the excited anticipation of September Days rather than summer holidays), his parents’ love story (‘I Wrote to You’), a lovely but sad slow ballad about being there for an old friend who has lost his way (‘Still Me’, with its deep baritone guitar lead), and memories of younger days at home (‘Far and Away‘) and the backwarsd-reminiscing closer (‘Going Home’) with its reference to the train ride home to Dover in New Jersey, with its lovely chorus and acoustic guitar outro).

There are plenty of other influences – ‘Make Believe‘ (about the mismatched pacing of a relationship – “O Valerie, O Valerie / Save something for me/ Don’t make this time make believe”) has a Roy Orbison-style opening, while ‘Sunset‘ has a cinematic feel with guitar sounds from a Sergio Leone movie. ‘Too Far Gone‘ has a retro bluesy feel with some grungy electric guitar.

If you liked The Delevantes as a duo, you will enjoy this album – even if you never heard The Delevantes you will enjoy it, with its echoes of Tom Pettty and The Jayhawks. In Joe Pisapia (who also coincidentally left New Jersey for Nashville in the 90s) he has found a fine multi-instrumentalist and producer, who has recreated the old duet album sound but with some added punch with the twin electric guitars. Take a listen, you will not be disappointed. And whether the next venture is solo or as a duo once again, it is great to have him back again after nearly 5 years.