Melissa Kacar

"Swan"   feels like the heart of   Melt , the debut solo album by Mar ía Zardoya , under the name Not For Radio . It is truly   one of the most gorgeous songs María has ever written and expansive under the world in which she created with the rest of the record. 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 . Swans are a motif she has often referenced throughout her art in many different forms, both sonically and visually, which is a beautiful and connective layer that threads through so much of  Mar ía's work.  Later, she continues, "If you meet me by the wate...

To usher in this new season of growth and renewal, María Zardoya has released Bloom , the second installment of her Not For Radio solo project. She introduced the project last Fall with her stunning debut, Melt , which is a collection deeply rooted in nature and the stillness of winter. Throughout that record, she circled the core question, "Is love worth all of the pain?" and spent the entire album grappling with the answer. Now, María returns with a three song EP that explores what happens when she finally allows herself to fall fully into love. Once again, this project is deeply tied to nature and and the changing of seasons, this time leaning into the symbolism of Spring and likening her own personal growth to the world blooming around her physically and metaphorically.  Sonically, it lives in the same sonic universe as Melt and much of her work with  The Marías , but with a noticeably more optimistic tone. It feels like such a beautiful extension of everything that has...

With N ot 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...

It's that time of year again, the moment to look back on all of the songs that shaped my 2025! My annual favorites posts are something I genuinely look forward to writing every December. Truthfully, I am mentally compiling this list all year long, so I'll probably need to start theorizing about possible contenders for the eventual 2026 list in just a few weeks! It's always interesting to watch how this list evolves as the year goes on and as more artists release music, and which songs manage to stay in rotation despite the constant wave of new releases. I'll admit, this year brought the biggest dilemma I've had yet when it comes to ranking these tracks. While my annual lists are always loosely ranked, I do pay special attention to the placement of the top ten and this year was especially the toughest to narrow down. Sometimes there is a very clear winner in my mind and I can always point out the singular song that defined the year for me, like last year with "...