This Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, NPR Music celebrates artists from all corners of Latinidad with an 'El Tiny' takeover.
Fresh off the release of its latest album, Submarine, The Marías have never felt more ready-made for the Tiny Desk. With the first few chimes of the synth and notes from Maria Zardoya’s breathy vocals, the band makes it clear that there’s no better place to bring its bedroom pop style than this slightly bigger space.
The indie band has been skyrocketing over the last few years with classic Spanglish hits like “Cariño” (featured here at the Desk) and a collab on Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti. But there’s so much more to the group than the smooth electronic beats and guitar riffs that meet the ear.
Headed by Puerto Rican lead singer Maria Zardoya, who proudly places a Puerto Rican flag on the Desk halfway through the show, there is an authenticity to the group’s lyricism and presentation that pulses just beneath the emotive keys. The band’s performance feels like a soundtrack for a generation that exists in many worlds, and in The Marías Tiny Desk, viewers find a new, ethereal, welcoming world to belong to.
SET LIST
- “Real Life”
- “Only in My Dreams”
- “No One Noticed”
- “Cariño”
MUSICIANS
- María Zardoya: vocals
- Josh Conway: drums
- Edward Friedlander: keys
- Jesse Perlman: guitar
- Gabriel Steiner: keys, percussion
- Doron Zounes: bass
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Anamaria Sayre
- Director/Editor: Maia Stern
- Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
- Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Mitra I. Arthur
- Audio Engineer: Josephine Nyounai
- Production Assistant: Elle Mannion
- Photographer: Michael Zamora
- Tiny Desk Team: Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
- VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins