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The Marias, named after their main vocalist Maria Zardoya, were formed in 2016 after she met Josh Conway at a music event in Los Angeles, California. Conway took an active role as the indie band’s drummer and producer, as other positions were filled through the addition of guitarist Jesse Perlman and keyboardist Edward James (with initial contributions from bassist Carter Lee).
With their bilingual flair and Zardoya’s distinctive, soft vocal tone, The Marias’ popularity increased exponentially. With the release of their most recent album, “Submarine,” they explored three stages of emotion — denial, acceptance, and letting go — producing their most polished sound and relatable message to date.
The Marias Before “Submarine”
On December 19th, 2016, The Marias released their first song, “I Don’t Know You,” as part of their debut EP, “Superclean, Vol. 1,” marking the beginning of their trajectory and foreshadowing positive future contributions to the music industry.
Subsequently, their second EP, “Superclean, Vol. 2,” was released on September 28th, 2018, and it proved successful within the band’s discography. The tracks on both EPs were initially intended for use in films and movies looking for soundtracks. However, Zardoya and Conway decided to repurpose them for their musical projects after prolonged trial and error.
The “Superclean Vol. 1” and “Superclean Vol. 2” paired-volume EPs showcased an experimental sound, each track testing the boundaries of old-school jazz and R&B. The songwriting was simple, delicate, and dreamy, yet raw in delivery. Due to each track having a unique story, the EP’s tracks stood alone rather than forming a cohesive project.
Despite the songs’ perceived shortcomings, the tracks shone with Zardoya’s voice and interpretation. Some of the tracks also appealed to Spanish-speaking audiences through songs like “Basta Ya,” “Déjate Llevar,” and “Cariño.”
Two years after TikTok, a popular social media platform featuring personalized sounds and popular music, broke out into the international market, The Marias began gaining wider audience recognition. One of the tracks, “Cariño,” on “Superclean, Vol. 2,” was a constant on TikTok and other platforms such as Instagram. Their track fell short of viral, but the public interest showed potential for their upcoming music and to solidify their creative identity.
On June 25th, 2021, after signing to Atlantic Records, The Marias’ debut album, “CINEMA,” was released. Conway and Zardoya carried over the film motif from Superclean Vol. 1 and “Superclean Vol. 2 to align with the central message and direction of the album. It marked a turning point for the band, with their debut on the Billboard 200 and the inner turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic‘s first year. Later in 2022, they were featured in fellow Puerto Rican Latin artist Bad Bunny’s album, “Un Verano Sin Ti,” encouraging them to test the waters with other types of audiences.
“CINEMA” introduced a message of scenic glimpses of a world rooted in film and movies. The songwriting developed storytelling-wise with less vague wording, each track encapsulating a message that tied together into a bigger picture, offering better relatability compared to their previous EPs. Their sound and production improved, allowing for easier distinction.
The album’s instrumentation effectively implements cultural influences through brass layers in tracks like — “Hable con Ella,” inspired by a scene from the 2016 film by Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight,” exhibiting a rendition from Caetano Veloso’s “Cucurrucucu Paloma.” At the same time, a sense of ominous quality was sprinkled throughout, allowing the indie and alternative varieties to shine through.
According to Zardoya, The Marias’ creative compass for “CINEMA” was guided by their love for film and movies, which inspired them to explore and create each track. But, most of all, it was the relationship between her and Conway that fostered great teamwork and brought their ideas to life.
Love, Loss & Music — The Zardoya-Conway Dynamic
In 2016, Maria Zardoya and Josh Conway began their romantic relationship, which blossomed from their shared love of music. From there, they wrote and produced two EPs and their debut album, and even got a dog together as partners in both senses of the word. That was until they decided to end things.
Sometime in 2024, months before the release of Submarine, Zardoya and Conway announced their break-up publicly after dating for eight years. Ultimately, it had no impact on their creativity. In fact, they shared with the media that their breakup actually made the process of composing, writing, and recording easier.
Their musical works reflected different stages of their relationship, setting each apart. In “Superclean Vol. 1” and “Superclean Vol. 2,” Zardoya’s and Conway’s romantic relationship was new and did not have as much of an impact on them musically. It also led to their two-volume EP having a vague central message, as their focus lay on other aspects of creativity that lacked emotional entanglement. The duo was equally involved in their music, but without drawing much attention to their special connection for fans to witness.
It was different during “CINEMA” since Zardoya and Conway shared with Apple Music that their love for each other as romantic partners helped them improve their songwriting process as they explored their favorite film influences to create the tracks. Conway was open to exploring Zardoya’s culture further through new sounds and influential figures. This also allowed them both to give back to their fanbase by letting them know about their status in interviews about the album.
After the breakup, themes of denial, acceptance, and letting go prevailed in Submarine, touching on the depth of emotions that presented themselves during and at the end of their romantic relationship. The phrase “creative breakthrough” grazed the surface, as Zardoya and Conway were able to give each other space to feel and mourn their past relationship status without making each other uncomfortable or upset, but also making music that mattered to them, specifically.
To many fans, Submarine was when The Marias sounded most like themselves. By touching their fan base with relatable lyrics and cultural infusions, the band was able to redefine and navigate their complicated dynamic by doing what they loved: making music.
“Submarine” — The Sound Of Depth After Sinking
The Marias released their sophomore studio album, “Submarine,” on May 31st, 2024. A work that was well-received by both fans and non-fans, thanks to its alluring concept and symmetrical sound, which transports its listeners underwater — mirroring the intensity of emotions discovered in life, whether in relationships or within oneself, allowing oneself to feel.
The track list ties together nicely from beginning to end with songs about the denial of how deep one can feel love, accepting that not having love hurts, yearning for a past relationship, and letting go of a past flame that was once everything. As for the aspects of the self, they stem from accepting both anger and loneliness.
The progression of the stages in feeling and emotion (denial, acceptance, letting go) does not follow a specific order in “Submarine,” but they are relevant throughout the album.
However, The Marias’ healing message of pulling oneself to the surface after being submerged in the depths of emotion does conclude with the last track, “Sienna,” by accepting to let go. The work lets listeners interpret songs differently but reach the same conclusion.
Stage One: Denial
Denial in “Submarine” takes different shapes — protecting one’s heart from emotional pain, underestimating the strength of managing emotions, or even failing to see beyond that same pain. It is the step before accepting depth and allowing oneself to feel.
Hamptons
The carefree track is a subtle shout-out to The Hamptons, New York, a luxurious getaway for celebrities and New Yorkers, particularly during the summer.
In the context of the track, “Hamptons” implies the excitement of a new, shiny connection that eventually becomes too emotionally involved — a new experience with deep feelings, where each verse represents a heightened level of caring, characterized by the bluntness in choice of words. In other words, the surface before reaching depth.
The first “I’m a little bit in love” residing in the first verse is the realization of the feelings at play. The second verse presents a first argument after a prolonged state of emotional safety, for which the “I’m a little bit in love” that follows becomes a denial of those feelings.
The third and final verse conveys the frustration of denial, whereas acceptance is fleeting before the outro. The track ends with denial again, featuring a sample of a voice saying, “Until then, I leave you with –” since denial is not definitive until reaching the letting go stage, given the unnatural order of tracks within the three stages.
Blur
The mess, confusion, and obsession that come with a fractured relationship present themselves in the surreal track. The instrumentation features distortion in its pre-chorus and outro, echoing persistent denial, and also incorporates a calm, purposeful rhythm during verses that serve as glimpses of clarity in the realization that a relationship cannot be as great as it once was.
A lack of self-control is evident in the first verse, as seen in the lines “If I talk it’s like medicine” and “Then it turns into evidence,” which identify with persistent conflicts in relationships — both platonic and romantic. The pre-chorus is choppy, distorted, and contradictory, which inflicts denial in not knowing how to let go of a connection.
However, there is momentary acceptance in the chorus amid denial about the wounded state of the relationship. In verse two, “It’s only ’cause I choose to forget” is a testament to her refusal to let go and accept that the relationship cannot be fixed. “Blur” ends with accepting that the relationship is not healthy and one-sided.
Ay No Puedo
The track is one of the only denial-staged songs in Spanish. With a flowy tone, the song is about asking a lover to come back, but at the same time telling them, “they can’t be in love anymore” because it’s too painful.
The song itself is a double-edged sword with multiple meanings depending on its listener. In the second chorus, “¿Qué pasa si más nunca me dejas en paz?” (What happens if you no longer leave me alone?) represents a state of going back and forth, not knowing whether to want the relationship or let it go definitively.
Stage Two: Acceptance
The majority of the tracks in “Submarine” are about accepting the depth of emotion and feelings. They are a blend of acceptance for overwhelming connections with relationships and the self. The tracks: “Echo,” “Run Your Mouth,” and “No One Noticed” were the most identifiable for this stage.
Echo
The first verse, with its echoing start, emphasizes the remembrance of the relationship, which then transitions to the pre-chorus that discusses the initial hesitation to pursue the connection, “Is my hand touchin’ yours?” ultimately leading to certainty:
“If I hold it, I won’t let go, won’t let go.”
At the chorus, there is a statement about how the relationship went downhill, with emotions becoming too overwhelming and challenging to manage, which is described as “overdramatic.” Ultimately, the outro accepts that the relationship must end,
“Your cry is an echo and I will let go of your love.”
The instrumentation in “Echo” features moments of distortion, and toward the end, it is characterized by the sound of submersion, echoing the theme of acceptance and depth in emotion, despite the nature of those feelings.
Run Your Mouth
The darker-toned track is about self-acceptance toward dealing with conflict. The introduction begins with an unhealthy situation where both parties struggle with communication. The instrumentation builds anticipation, and the verse, “That you only hold me when I’m on my knees,” serves as a clue to assume the relationship is stagnant, and all that is left is anger.
The track leans toward accepting the emotion, as there is no other way around, as both parties have given up on the relationship with lines like, “Thought you wanted this to last for life,” and “To turn around and talk it through, but we won’t.”
No One Noticed
The acceptance of loneliness within oneself is reflected in the lyrics of the track. The song begins with “Maybe I lost my mind,” and “No one noticed,” which reflect the desire to be cared about and the inner turmoil that drives the desperation to be noticed during difficult periods of suffering.
In the chorus, “It’s getting old (I’d kinda like it if you’d call me)” represents how hiding one’s emotions can lead to a desire for others to notice them — to be comforted.
The track accepts those feelings in times of solitude, as well as for a celebrity entangled in social media and the public eye.
Stage Three: Letting Go
The third and last stage is when submersion occurs, and drowning in emotion is not merely surviving but learning how to live with it after acceptance.
The Marias’ message entails that not everything is meant to be — but it’s okay. Feeling is not a weakness but a strength.
Sienna
The final track of the album signifies the letting go of the idea of a future with a past connection, as the name “Sienna” represents a hypothetical child that could have been part of the relationship if it had worked out.
Throughout the song, the presence of the love interest slowly fades, as evident in lines like, “I can feel you with me, like I did before,” and “Hear the creak in the floorboards going up the stairs.”
Eventually, the song closes out with the outro, “And I smile when I think of all the times we had,” accepting the relationship is over. At the very last line, “See her face in the forest, then it disappears,” the dream ends as the non-possibility of a future is accepted.
The Marias’ Lasting Echo
“Submarine” accepted the depth of emotion as a strength, encouraging its listeners to feel instead of bottling up feelings, despite how difficult or painful it may be. The Marias’ album proves a healing experience for its fanbase — that even in deep waters, one can reach the surface and come out unscathed.
From their inspiring trajectory that stemmed from a meaningful, romantic relationship and blossomed into a vast discography, Josh Conway and Maria Zardoya broke off their relationship as lovers and gave light to beautiful experiences transformed into lessons for their listeners. The pair plunged into the ocean, yet still offered the audience a glimpse, brief though it was.