The Marías
The Marías are a Los Angeles band formed in 2016 around Puerto Rico-born singer María Zardoya and drummer-producer Josh Conway, whose partnership shaped a hazy, cinematic sound that folds dream pop and psychedelic soul into breezy, bossa-tinged grooves. Zardoya sings fluidly between English and Spanish, and the band's warm, reverb-soaked productions — heard across the debut album 'Cinema' (2021) and its darker, more trip-hop-leaning follow-up 'Submarine' (2024) — turned singles like 'Hush,' 'Un Millón,' and the sleeper hit 'No One Noticed' into slow-burning modern standards. Their aesthetic leans hard on mood and atmosphere, treating each song like a scene lit for the screen.
Josh Conway, the band's drummer and producer, has named Tame Impala among his key influences, and it surfaces in The Marías' production: phased, reverb-drenched drums, washes of warm analog synth, and vocals set back in a hazy, slightly woozy mix rather than pushed up front.
listen forThrow on Tame Impala's 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' and then 'Hush' — hear how both drift on a soft, looping keyboard figure and a dreamy, submerged vocal that seems to float a step behind the beat.
María Zardoya has cited Sade among her influences, and you can hear that lineage in The Marías' restraint — a breathy, intimate vocal riding a smooth, uncluttered groove, with the band leaving space rather than crowding the arrangement.
listen forPlay Sade's 'No Ordinary Love' before 'Un Millón' — notice how both hold a sensual, slow-simmering mood by keeping the rhythm section soft and letting a hushed, unhurried vocal carry the ache.
For 'Submarine' the band leaned deep into trip-hop, and critics repeatedly heard Portishead in the result — the nocturnal, smoggy atmosphere, slow downtempo beats, and film-noir sense of dread that recall the sound of 'Dummy.'
listen forCue Portishead's 'Glory Box' next to 'Blur' — both move at a narcotic crawl over a heavy, cinematic beat, wrapping a fragile vocal in reverb and static so the whole thing feels like a scene shot in low light.