Melt by Maria Zardoya as Not for Radio // Album Review
With Not For Radio, María Zardoya of The Marías steps out on her own for the first time with her debut solo release, Melt. As the name of her side project suggests, this music was not made with the intention of it receiving any mainstream attention or commercial success. Instead, Melt became a deeply personal refection, one that fully embraces intimacy and vulnerability in ways she has never explored before.
Written over the course of just three weeks in January 2024 in Upstate New York, María collaborated with Luca Buccellati and Sam Evian to craft the record against the backdrop of cold, isolated winter snowscapes. That distinct environment seeps into the music, shaping a gorgeous and atmospheric exploration of love, all centered around the overarching question: "Is love worth all of the pain?"
María described Not For Radio as "…my alternate reality" and a pursuit of rediscovering a part of herself and exploring, on her own terms, the act of loving and losing. In an introductory message, she reflected on that notion. She said, "There's a pain that only love can cause. The ache of someone's absence, of knowing that they once lived there, inside your home, tangible and tender." This project is born from solitude, yet still holds space for deep longing and the hope of a real connection.
The album arrives at a particularly significant moment in her career, as The Marías continues to breakthrough in the industry and garner mainstream success following their sophomore release of Submarine in 2024, which even earned the band a long-overdue Best New Artist nomination at the 2026 Grammy Awards. Within that context, Melt feels even more like the purest form of María using music as a creative outlet and an intimate space to explore ideas and influences beyond the band's collective creative direction. Sonically, it still exists in the same universe as her work with The Marías, carrying over much of the same hazy, psychedelic production qualities that define their sound. Yet, it's also distinctively all her own as well.
"It’s a project with songs that I want people to experience the way that I love experiencing music," María said in an interview with Billboard. "Out in nature, lying under a tree or going on a walk," she said. "It's written completely out of my comfort zone and away from the industry." Much of Melt follows a free-flowing stream of consciousness style of writing, going into the studio without any pre-written lyrics or ideas. Fully immersed in the moment, that instinctive approach allowed her to make some of her most lush and reflective work to date.
In many ways, it connects narratively to her past music while carving out a new space within her creative journey. Written around the same timeline as Submarine, it shares some of the tonal and storytelling aspects of that record, as well as the signature dreamy, cinematic lens she writes from. Here it feels even more raw, natural, and personal. The cold, isolated winter landscapes of Upstate New York serve as a stark contrast to the Los Angeles backdrop that has shaped so much of The Marías' music prior. Because of that, Melt is grounded in the solitude that comes from such a setting. I especially love the way María captures the changing of the seasons from autumn into winter, using it as a metaphor for the seasons of life and the transformations they represent.
Melt opens with "Puddles", a song that immediately sets the tone for the rest of record, rooted in nature and deep sentimental musings. It captures the desire for a love that lingers long into the summer, even as it emerges from the coldness of winter. "And through the leaves, I'll love you, in the dead of the night, I can carry your light inside of me," she sings. This song beautifully showcases the pairing of María's gorgeous, poetic lyricism and her signature ethereal vocals. The track's ambiance builds gradually, reminding me of "Real Life".
At its core, "Puddles" is about the vulnerability of wanting to jump into a new love after experiencing massive heartbreak, the one that shaped so much of Submarine. She opens up about her fear of falling in love at the risk of having to go through something like that again. In the chorus she confesses, "Puddles and puddles, I picture us there, walking in circles and talking in stares, I'm seeing double, I'm already scared, scared of what losing feels after we dare". Later, she sings, "My mind is blurry from all of the rain, don't think that love is worth all of the pain".
It's an emotional moment of surrender, as she writes from the perspective of someone who loves deeply but is still questioning whether love is worth the inevitable risk of loss. Lyrically, she sings about a person she hasn't even met in real life, yet imagines a future with them in such vivid detail that reality and daydream blur together. The yearning is so strong, paired with the immense fear of losing again before the love has even begun. Yet, the repetition of "I think I should try" in the outro reframes that hesitation into something so much more. It's such a stunning way to open this album, introducing the central question of Melt and inviting listeners into the journey as she finds out the answer for herself.
"Moment" further ties together many of the central narrative and visual themes of Melt as a whole. The song reflects on the temporary nature of love, the inevitability of change, and the shifting seasons of life. Throughout this album, she portrays her experiences with love as something fluid, constantly taking on new forms and shapes with time. "Man, I wanna melt inside you, form to water, then to ice," she sings in the second verse. "But if it goes into the summer, don't think that I'd wanna hide". The imagery she uses is striking and poetic, using elemental cycles to capture both intimacy and impermanence. Love being depicted as something that morphs and evolves with time is an important thread that runs throughout this entire record, grounding the core themes of both nature and personal reflection.
By ending with the line "disappear with me by the gliding sea," María ties the song back to Melt's overarching vision; love being fluid, flowing, and ever-changing, yet still worth surrendering to despite its fragility.
Much of Melt offers a look back on the past as well, reflecting on situations she wishes had gone differently. With these apologies and reconciliations, María directly addresses people from her life in specific, diaristic ways. "My Turn" unfolds with a jazzy quality that carries a warmth and fluidity that runs through so much of Melt. It connects back to "Spin Me Round" in a really beautiful and sincere way, as she once again addresses someone named Daisy, and offers an apology. "Lately, most all I think about is how I did you wrong and how I paid for it," María sings, before admitting, "You didn't deserve it, all of the things I did and what a lesson learned, I died 'cause it's my turn".
The lyrics are stunning in their vulnerability, acknowledging the pain she caused and the weight of regret. She continues with intimate confessions: "Daisy, I wanna be the same as you, the way you read my mind, the wildness when you're high and if you only knew I loved you." Later, she promises, "We may never be the same, but I would never let you die alone," before admitting to the devastating truth of their fate, "I died when I lost you." This track feels like such an important moment of reflection for putting someone through something they didn't deserve. Now able to look back at it with clarity and remorse, it's a beautiful declaration of the enduring bond they shared.
"Back To You" later follows with a similarly nostalgic look back on a time she wishes had gone differently, carried by heartfelt musings on a love lost in the past. "Maybe in another life I'll be yours again, until then, I'm wasting time until I'm yours again," she sings in the opening lines. "'Cause I tried, to find a fallen star and hope it brings me back to you".
The connection to "Back To Me" runs deep, almost like a conversation between the music of Not For Radio and the collective project of The Marías. Here, María is once again lamenting a past love, looking back on intimate memories that remain vivid in detail even though they are far gone now, wishing she could travel back in time to relive those moments. In the bridge, she delivers one of the most simple and devastating lines, "Put your hand inside my pocket, if it's not you, I don't want it". The layered vocals at the end are gorgeous, closing the track with a sense of transcendent longing.
Another song that comes off as a direct connector to The Marías' work is "Not The Only One", which draws many parallels to "Nobody New". "You're not the only one in my head, that much is true, but you are the only one in my bed, I promise you," María sings, setting the tone for a track that explores emotional distance within a relationship, not caused by physical separation, but by a growing sense of disconnect. She feels herself pulling away as a result, leaning toward something different as she no longer feels cared for in the way she once did. This situation directly recalls "Nobody New" and even "No One Noticed" in that way, almost like a continuation of that same chapter of her life that inspired it.
"You don't see me like he do," she sings in the third verse. "He calls me up when I cry in the night, why won't you? Yeah, he wipes the tеars from my eyes, why won't you? Yеah, he hears me out when I say I'm not okay, why won't you?" The vulnerability in these lines captures the ache of being unseen and unheard by someone she loves, while recognizing the presence of another who offers the care and attention she longs for.
"Swan" feels like the heart of Melt and one of the most gorgeous songs María has ever written. It reads like a vow of love, unfolding with some of the most romantic and breathtaking lyrics I have ever heard, as she offers a promise of deep, enduring devotion.
"I could love you like a swan would, I could love you 'til the end," she sings in the opening verse. "Take my body, this I promise, won’t let go of your hand". The imagery is striking, it truly feels like an embodiment of the cover of The Marías' debut album Cinema. Later, she continues, "If you meet me by the water, you can always be my man, if you hold me like he hurt me, I will save you the last dance."
"The natural world has so much to teach us about life and about love. I recently learned that a lot of species mate for life: owls, and bald eagles, wolves, and swans. Because once a swan finds their love, they're devoted until the end," María said in a spoken-word intro for the song prior to its release. "In the warm summer air and in the dead of the night, they choose each other every day and always. Love in nature isn't grand, but it is simple. It's woven into migrations in rivers and forests, in the mushrooms sprouting from the moss, cracks and frozen lakes, and molasses melting from barks of trees, spider crawling through the meadow. The earth holds us all, season after season, for life. This song is called 'Swan', and it's a love letter to whoever my swan will be. I hope you find yours too."
"I could be the most deserving, once you try to understand, I have been so scared of losing like the smallest grain of sand," she admits, connecting back to the motifs of the album's opening track "Puddles" with her fear of loss, and the vulnerability of loving again after heartbreak.
The chorus repeats with a stunning simplicity, "Part of me is a part of you, it's a part of me too". It is reminiscent of Finneas' lyric from his song "Family Feud", "A part of me is part of you, just a different shade of blue". The blend of electronic elements paired with sweeping, orchestral jazz influence creates a sound that feels both timeless and modern, an approach that both Finneas and María often take in their work. The result with "Swan" is a song that is so romantic, deeply sincere and among the most captivating moments of the album.
So much of Melt comes off as if it were written for the love of her life that she hasn't even met yet, imagining what that connection will feel like, or even envisioning a version of herself she has yet to discover. There's a yearning throughout the record for the experience of knowing and being with that person that carries so much weight within the emotional core of the record. "Magnet" encapsulates that beautifully, as well. "In a dream, I will have you, so far away, so far," María sings over the ethereal introduction. "And I need to find you, so far away". It feels suspended between dream and reality, holding on to the hope of being able to one day have that closeness she is yearning for.
"Vueltas" further continues this exploration. Sung in Spanish, it ties directly to María's Puerto Rican roots, something she has woven into all of her albums in meaningful ways. Here, she reflects on the memory of someone who continues to spin around in her mind, while also wanting to finally reconnect with herself outside the context of that relationship. Her vocals are stunning as always, carrying a delicate warmth that makes the song one of the most memorable moments on the album.
"Water On Your Nose" once again finds her yearning for a love she doesn't have yet. "Stay with me through the summer, laugh with me again," she sings. "Every time I hold my hand, I picture yours in mine, but I can't". Through this song's poetic songwriting, she takes the listener through the shifting of the seasons and the cyclical nature of it all. As the second-to-last track, it feels like a beautiful conclusion of Melt's themes of devotion and the fragility of love. "I wish I could be honest, I would have to die for you," she admits, before singing one of the most stunning lines of the entire project, "I don't have to try to love you, it comes easy to me."
That lyric feels like an answer to the album's overarching question: is love worth all the pain? In the pursuit of making this record, she comes to the conclusion that it truly is.
"Slip" closes Melt with a quiet, reserved performance that feels deeply personal. From its opening line, "Wearing your coat under the snow, it's holding me close before we go", the song brings the listener right back to the setting in which it was created. The natural environment around her and the cold winter days she spent making this album directly inspired the music itself.
Later, she sings, "Crossing the lake beneath our feet, when I was scared of falling beneath, slip into slip into me, melt in your hands, hearing me sleep". She quietly repeats the words "don't go" through the chorus, which is such a pure sentiment to share with someone, because in that moment nothing more needs to be said to express the feeling.
María further explained in her Billboard interview that during the making of Melt, she made it a point to go on two-hour nature walks every morning, no matter the weather. "It didn't matter if it was snowing, raining, sleeting or ice everywhere. I was like, 'Let's just put on whatever gear we have and go trekking through the woods.' You can see that reflected in the music. I was so inspired by nature and everything that I was seeing on those walks." She incorporated the tiny details she observed on those walks lyrically throughout Melt, like "...how the light sparkled, the moss sprouting from the snow and the little green sprouts." She added, "There was one morning that we walked on a frozen lake—literally walking on water!" The final song fully embodies all of that inspiration.
"Slip" beautifully encapsulates the intimacy and introspection at the core of Melt. By grounding her reflections in nature and the changing of the seasons, this music becomes a reminder that love is ever-changing. Yet, even in its pain and impermanence, it is always worth holding onto.
Thanks for reading! Check out more of my reviews of The Marías and Not For Radio, linked here and below, including my song review of the gorgeous "No One Noticed". Many more are linked below and coming soon!
Photo Credit: Not For Radio, Atlantic Records, Jaxon Whittingham
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