The Marías

The sound of The Marías is built on layers of jazz, funk, and lounge, with a psychedelic touch that fades into the air. Their songs breathe between the groove of the percussion and the guitar riffs that repeat like a hypnotic echo, while the voice of María Zardoya —hoarse, warm, and with a hint of melancholy— floats above everything. It’s not just the mix of languages that surprises, but how they make Spanish and English sound like part of the same soundscape, without forcing it. The brass, those solos that appear like flashes between chords, give it a vintage air reminiscent of 70s bands, but with a freshness that doesn’t sound like nostalgia, but like reinvention.

The group’s origins lie in a chance encounter in Los Angeles. Zardoya, who was living in Atlanta at the time but already active in the city’s music scene, was playing in a bar inside Canter’s Deli called Kibitz Room. There, she met Josh Conway, who, with no prior experience as a sound technician, was running the console that night. The creative spark was immediate: they started writing together and, shortly after, began dating. From there, they formed the band with Edward James on keyboards and Jesse Perlman on guitar, completing a quartet that today defines their sound with four instruments and two voices.

bedroom pop Dream pop Indie pop lo-fi psychedelic pop 2010s

2,6M Listeners/mo

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More about The Marías

Biography

Before launching as a band, they tried their luck writing songs for television, but the project didn’t take off. That led them to record an EP with their own material, Superclean Vol. I, in 2017. The album went unnoticed at first, but its sequel, Superclean Vol. II (2018), already showed the direction they would take: less polished production, more organic groove. That same year, they collaborated with Triathlon on the track Drip, their first step toward a wider audience. By 2020, they signed with Atlantic Records, and in September 2021, their song Hush reached the top spot on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart, marking their first hit on the charts.

Their leap into the mainstream came with unexpected collaborations. In 2022, they joined Halsey on her Love and Power tour, and that same year, they worked with Bad Bunny on Otro Atardecer, a track included on his album Un Verano Sin Ti. The following year, Cuco invited them to Si Me Voy, and they collaborated with Tainy and Young Miko on Mañana. But it was in 2024 that they solidified their place with Submarine, their second studio album. The album kicked off with Run Your Mouth in March, followed by Lejos de Ti in April, and before its official release in May, they dropped two more singles: No One Noticed and If Only. The latter became a viral success, reaching number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. The blend of sounds on Submarine —from raw funk to saxophone-wrapped ballads— proved they could navigate genres without losing their essence.

In 2025, Zardoya released Melt, an EP under her own name as a solo artist where she explores darker territory, defined by her as "gothic and fairy-like." Meanwhile, The Marías continued racking up accolades: at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, they received their first nomination for Best New Artist, a symbolic milestone that confirms their music is no longer going unnoticed. The most interesting part isn’t the award itself, but how they’ve made a sound so personal —a mix of jazz, alternative pop, and soul— find its place in a world where labels are often stricter than chords.

Details

Nacimiento: 1 ene 2016
País: 🇺🇸 United States
Género: bedroom pop

Record labels

Atlantic

Links

Official site Wikipedia