This Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, NPR Music celebrates artists from all corners of Latinidad with an 'El Tiny' takeover.

Anamaria Sayre | October 9, 2024
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
Eddie 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

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