CINEMA by The Marías // 5 Year Anniversary Album Review
CINEMA captures so much of the soft and glowing intimacy that has defined so much of The Marías' music from the very beginning. The gorgeous sonic universe within this album became a signature for them, one that has only grown more fully realized with each subsequent release.
The origins of many of these songs predate the band itself, evolving over years before their official debut. Alongside the announcement of the CINEMA track list, they wrote in the YouTube description: "A couple of them were written years ago in our bedroom, before we even released our first song. One of them was written at the start of 2020, a grim foreshadowing of the year that followed. Another was written in our tour van in between Washington, D.C. and Boston. All of them were written with everything we had."
The entirety of the album was created by frontwoman María Zardoya alongside core producer, co‑writer, and longtime partner Josh Conway. After CINEMA's release, The Marías nearly disbanded following their breakup, which thankfully wasn't the case. Their eventual sophomore album, Submarine, shaped in the aftermath of that tumultuous chapter in their relationship, became a deeply evocative and personal masterpiece. It was built upon the same creative dynamic that has always defined their work together, a dynamic that especially sits at the very forefront of CINEMA. The album remains a vivid testament to their synergy and to the way their partnership has evolved into being one of the most compelling creative duos in music right now.
Given the title of the album, each song approaches from a cinematic world-building quality that comes through on every single song. The music incorporates both English and Spanish language lyrics, sometimes even switching between the two on the same track. This balance is a beautiful encapsulation of all that represents who María is as an artist at her core. In addition to being an homage to their early days writing music for film and TV, the title CINEMA translates the same in both languages, as well - which was a deciding factor for the group when trying to put a definitive label on what this record represents as their debut.
"The Marías were born of cinema," María said in an interview upon its release. She added, "The reason Josh and I started writing music together was because of the cinema. Through a friend, we got in touch with a music supervisor who sent us music requests for movies. We got a synopsis of a scene and then we had to write the music in a couple of days. That not only taught us to write songs together pretty quickly, but also to think like filmmakers. We imagined worlds in our minds based on the synopsis: the colors of the scene, the lighting, the actors, the stage design and of course, the music."
The eclectic mix of influences across CINEMA makes for such a bold and varied listening experience - from the opening instrumental "Just a Feeling", to the distinct edge "Calling U Back" conveys, to the sultry and hypnotic "Hush" - which is a standout gem that feels fully indicative of what makes The Marías such a singular force in rock music today.
Josh also has a much more prominent vocal presence throughout many of these songs compared to Submarine, and the depth of his tone complements María's soft, airy delivery beautifully. His voice adds a contextual counterpoint, as well by bringing a different perspective to the stories threaded through these tracks.
"All I Really Want Is You" was written during COVID, at a point when they were adding the final touches to the record once it's release had been delayed for the following year. The song reflects both the emotional weight of that period and the psychedelic, introspective journey that inspired them at a time when they couldn't physically leave the house.
"There was a lot going on during the time that this song was written, so we wanted to go back in time to a month or two prior where Josh and I decided to go on a little LSD journey throughout our neighborhood. We couldn't leave or travel in a sense - so we decided to go on a mental trip or a mental journey. We were tripping, just enjoying nature and the stars at night," she said in an interview with Apple Music.
Lyrically the song transports the listener right into that moment, with the stunning imagery of a hot summer night, looking up at the moon, all depicted through the hazy, dreaminess of the instrumental. The production mirrors that psychedelic atmosphere beautifully. There's such a romantic, intimate quality to the track too, especially in the way María repeats the title phrase, "all I really want is you", with such a definitive sense of certainty that makes the sentiment feel so deeply felt and understood in those moments.
The latter half of the record continues to unfold deeper into the psychedelic sonic trip they wanted to capture. These songs are built on a blend of traditional instrumentation and distorted, electronic production, creating a soundscape that simultaneously has an organic and warped feeling to it. "Spin Me Around" in particular was the final song written for the album, made with the intention of specifically capturing that feeling.
"It's definitely our psychedelic 'what would we listen to while on acid' song. It’s got that trippiness and waviness that we needed, because psychedelics is a huge part of our life. And we wanted our fans to experience how we feel on psychedelics." she said in an interview with Apple Music. Josh added that he felt the album, "...needed something a little more open and light-hearted with an indie-rock-type vibe as far as production goes." He continued, "I’m stoked that it made it onto the album, because I feel like without it, the album feels a little synth-heavy and very electronic in certain ways. It kind of took those fears of mine away."
"The Mice Inside This Room" then feeds into some of the paranoia and fears that she has been grappling with throughout her life and much of CINEMA. It's one of the more conceptual songs on the album too, taking a metaphorical approach to the writing and the story at hand.
"Sometimes, even to this day, I can't fall asleep by myself if I don't have a light on or hear white noise. I hear one thing and my mind just races. Any little sound could be this mouse inside my room that's preventing me from sleeping and from my sanity. It could also be symbolic in how there's internal voices, and internal and external chatter, that get in the way from you being completely calm and being able to think clearly." she said in an interview with Apple Music.
The song captures a deep sense of darkness and unease, which subtly connects to the hypnotic textures the rest of CINEMA is also built on. It particularly feels linked to the emotional disorientation of the early Billie Eilish deep cut "When I Was Older", which is a distinct sound CINEMA often channels, be it intentional or not - while also undoubtedly pulling from Radiohead's influence too. There's a very on‑edge quality to it, as they capture the weight of the heavy emotions she finds herself grappling with throughout.
"Heavy" similarly feels like the heart of CINEMA in such an impactful way. In hindsight, it comes through as a precursor to so much of what Submarine was later built on, with "No One Noticed" particularly being linked to this song in that regard. The way she depicts herself at the center of a very distinct emotional spiral is done in a way that feels so deeply lived and personal to her own life experiences. There are some lyrical moments that capture the isolation of depression in such a vivid way unlike anything I've ever heard before.
"Maybe I'm living in my head, maybe I'm living to pretend," she sings in the chorus. "Maybe I wanna stay in bed, far from the weight of the world in my hands, 'cause they don't understand".
It's such an ethereal and beautiful reflection of the qualities that make this band so deeply evocative, and that world‑building carries straight into "Heavy", which brings out so much of the cinematic intensity they sought to convey with this record.
"Is someone telling me 'Don't get in the water'? What havе I done? I don't wanna get lost inside thе color under my tongue," she sings in the second verse. "'Cause I don't want to be in love with another, even in another life, can someone tell me it's alright to be covered underneath the covers? But I, no, I don't need to sleep anymore".
It is also very much tied to the visual themes that this album is built on, which is an integral piece of all the music they create. "Heavy" feels particularly connected to the cover art, mirroring the mental anguish of feeling overwhelmed and misunderstood, and then the moment of someone coming in and pulling you out of your own head for the first time. In an interview with Coup de Main, María opened up about the way the cover is meant to reflect that emotional state, as well as the fragility and pressures in pursuit of perfection.
"The swan is not only a symbol of beauty and grace, but also of perfectionism," she said in the interview. "While working on this album, we wanted everything to be perfect, sometimes to our detriment. This perfectionism is interpreted by the white swan in the ballet, Swan Lake and also in the film, 'Black Swan'." A swan has been a motif that has shown up many times since, particularly in her recent solo work as Not For Radio, evolving from a very insular personal connection into a recurring symbol throughout her art that ties everything together.
Thanks for reading! I have written about The Marías' music many times in the past, along with María's solo project Not For Radio - all of which are linked here and below.
Photo Credit: Bethany Vargas, Atlantic Records, The Marías
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