Concert Review:The Marías Make NYC See The Sensuality of Love at Baby’s
The Marías made their NYC debut at Baby’s All Right, and it felt oddly befitting that they would splash across our music scene in such an eclectic place. They perfectly melded with the notion of being beyond music, space, and time that this locale radiates. As a proud Latina, I gravitate to artists that show the dreaminess of our culture and how it reflects the dreaminess of humanity and love. Enter fierce Boricua, María Zardoya, to convert the tiny club into a sultry, 60’s lounge where you could practically taste and lather in the wonder of their smooth, jazz-pop sound.
The key to The Marías is psychedelic sophistication. They aim for the grace of soul, and the belief that a mind trip can be taken upon a magically, deep red carpet. Hence, María sways her body and swindles her hands like a gypsy tossing every bit of gold and magic, fairy dust she could find. There is a confidence to her stage presence that, for me, certified The Marías future success. There are bands I have seen that, though wonderful, do not own the stage as if it is their rightful inheritance. For being a psychedelic, dream-pop group, The Marías played with a dominance that was powerful for emanating so softly. They even make the trumpet feel like a delicate call for coupling. Tracks like, “I Don’t Know You”,”I Like It”, and “Only In Dreams” sounded as if someone was squeezing an ice pack for all its cooled sensuality. It could be because drummer/ producer Josh Conway and María are a real-life couple that their music comes off brimming with desire and love. The Marías have, somehow, captured the beauty and oddness of wanting someone in your life.
You ever look at your boyfriend and girlfriend and say in shock, “Wow, I’m in love with you!”. Maybe, it is just me, but when I am in love, it dumbfounds to see what it brings out in me through the relationship compared to without it or in my “single-hood”. It is not that a person changes or grows you as much as situations allow you to experience and foster different sides of yourself, and it is in this truth that The Marías create lyrical linens. Their rhythms might as well be 1000 thread count, and fashioned to perfectly fit every bed of love in the WORLD! Add on that María’s voice felt like pink, champagne bubbles were gurgling from her chords rather than notes, and The Marías show felt easy. It was as if you walked away saying, “Yeah, you belong on that stage!”. Not an easy feat when your sound is dreamy, but their chemistry as a group of friends/artists makes their concert feel like a waking dream rather than a slumber: you are up and about in a lustful, fantasy world that shows wanting another can bring out your good if you don’t treat them bad, i.e. “Dejate Llevar”. For More Information On The Marías Click Here.
