“Is love worth the pain?” This is the question María Zardoya, the lead vocalist of The Marías, asked herself when she began the production of her solo project, “Melt.” The Marías became a global phenomenon after the release of their single titled “No One Noticed” in early May of 2024 as a prelude to an upcoming album. Shortly after, The Marías released the album “Submarine.” The album focused on themes of loneliness and grief, extremely relatable topics which listeners found themselves drawn to. Not only this, but also its soothing and ethereal sound drew in indie fans from across the world, and The Marías’ popularity skyrocketed.
Zardoya has been the face of the band since its inception in 2016. After around a year, the group officially released its first project “Superclean,” a six-song Extended Play (EP). Zardoya provided all the vocals on the track, and quickly became the defining feature of the band.
The Marías’ popularity grew until the band announced they would release their first album in early 2020. At this time, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and they were forced to push back the release for almost a year. Eventually, “CINEMA” was released in 2021, and the band thoroughly solidified themselves in the indie scene.
Since then, the Marías have been one of the most dominant bands in indie music. They have been on tour for almost a year now, travelling across America playing shows for their album, “Submarine.” In late September, Zardoya teased a possible new album release on The Marías Instagram, and fans quickly speculated a what the new album could be about. But fans were shocked when Zardoya unveiled she had developed her own solo project. “My vision, approach and intention with Not For Radio [her solo project’s name] was much different than my intention with The Marías,” Zardoya said.
On Aug. 20, under a new Spotify account, Zardoya released a song called “Message 1.” Until the release of the full album, Zardoya released more messages, each hinting towards another track and theme of her album. These messages also contained commentary on the project and the ideas behind each of the tracks she teased. In her first message, Zardoya asks “Is love worth the pain?” This idea is the key theme of the first track in her project titled “Puddles.”
When she released her second message in early September, she included a real snippet of “Puddles,” the first part of the album she showed off to listeners. Lastly, on Sept. 22, she revealed her third and final message. A few nights prior to the full release, she released an Instagram story thanking fans for their support and acknowledging the work that went into making the album. “This project is so precious to me. It’s a culmination of years in the making,” Zardoya said.
Finally, after a two month wait, she released her first solo studio album, “Melt,” on Oct. 10. The project has a total of ten tracks, each being somewhere around 4-5 minutes long and totaling to 42 minutes.
“Puddles” is an interesting song since it goes against The Marías’ usual trend of having a more relaxed opener to an album. In both of their studio albums, “Cinema” and “Submarine,” the first songs act as a mellow introduction to the album. Both are relatively short and lack any major chorus. However, “Puddles” is a fully fledged song and, in my opinion, one of the best in the album. Zardoya’s enchanting vocals paired alongside transcending lyrics and an alluring beat makes “Puddles” not only a good opener to the album, but one of its most memorable songs.
“‘Puddles’, the opener, has a kind of dream-like ending that stuck with me,” junior Tristan Greene said.
Another hit from the album is “Back To You.” The song is relatively simple in its production. It is primarily made up of soft and dreamy piano lines, also accompanied by some electronic textures and background layering. The complexity of this song allows Zardoya’s vocals to take center stage. The song focused on an intense longing for someone you can no longer have. Yet, unlike other hit songs on this topic by the Marías, like “Back To Me,” the song is far more mellow and calm. It represents the quiet suffering people undergo while yearning for something they can never have. Zardoya is very vulnerable on this track and her angelic vocals only add more depth to this already heart-crushing song.
“The vocals and music itself in my opinion are simply ethereal,” junior Vivi Decareau said.
“Swan” is a peculiar track. This track was initially teased in the last message released prior to the full album’s release. The song’s production is quite simplistic. Besides a drumline in the back, the song doesn’t do very much intrumentally. It utilizes airy tones and some piano to accompany Zardoya’s vocals, but nothing else. The lyrics are straightforward. There’s a lot of repeated phrases and sections of the song, and there is no distinguished chorus, but the song, somehow, still works.
“‘Swan’ just clicked for me,” Greene said. The theme of love and desire is echoed through the song’s lyrics and even the name of the song. One of the lyrics in Zardoya’s third message says that “once a swan finds their love, they’re devoted until the end.” This line is a direct reference to this track, and gives the listener just a little more insight into the hidden meaning and message of this song.
“Not The Only One” is an amazing track. The calming drum line and spacious feel to the song make it very pleasing to listen to. Yet again, Zardoya’s vocal and lyrical talent really steals the show. It would be criminal to understate the beauty and power her voice brings, not only to this song, but to the project as a whole. Her lyrical work is also put in the spotlight on this track. Not only are the lyrics vulnerable and emotionally charged, but you can really envision yourself in them. Each lyric is strategically placed and serves a purpose, making it very relatable and easy to listen to.
Overall, this project is extremely well done. You could argue almost every song on the album is its best one, which is a very rare feat for a project, especially one as ambitious as this. If you go into this expecting an album just like The Marías, you will not get what exactly you are looking for. But, coming into the album with an open mind, you can really see Zardoya’s musical and lyrical genius shine in these tracks. In total, this project really exceeded my expectations, and brought a breath of fresh air to the music scene of today.
