The Marías is an indie-pop band that plays in both English and Spanish. You may have heard of them before with their viral Tik Tok song “Hush” from their debut album, Cinema. In the last month, Maria Zardoya, Joshua David Conway, Edward James and Jesse Perlman released their newest album: Submarine.
In this new era, the band experimented with their sound and lyricism, exploring the concept to its limit at the same time they kept the atmosphere of their old stuff. Another highlight is that the album follows a concept throughout the songs in a perfect way! So, before we get more into it track by track, how about checking out the album trailer below?
1. ‘RIDE’
The first track quite literally introduces the album by playing with the lyrics: “We can make a movie / We can take our time introducing Submarine / Careful while you’re cruising / Gonna be a ride introducing Submarine”. Via edgy synths and a robotic voice, the band is able to hype up the album to a point we wished there was an extended version of the interlude.
2. ‘HAMPTONS’
The second track follows the experimental beat and atmosphere tasted in the interlude. “Hamptons” is a metaphor for the first idea of love a person has when in a new relationship, the dreamy part of it or, as we call it, the honeymoon phase. This is shown through the idea surrounding ‘luxury’: the perfect family, a good lifestyle, women in white dresses waiting for marriage and all of the characteristics The Hamptons, a seaside area in New York, U.S., sells.
3. ‘ECHO’
“A sound or series of sounds caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener” is the textbook definition of echo, which truly represents the song. In the lyrics, we understand this relationship is messy and the narrator knows it must end. But, for some reason, they aren’t able to leave it. “Echo” possibly correlates to the last one, given the reference to New York. In this perspective, we can imagine that the good part presented in the last song has ended, therefore, showing this relationship has never truly been a healthy one.
4. ‘RUN YOUR MOUTH’
Here, the upbeat sound contrasts perfectly with the lyrics. In this track, we are shown a one sided argument between the writer who does not want to deal with the arguments and their partner who won’t stop talking about their problems. “Run Your Mouth” heavily explores the avoidance of talking about serious problems and the desire to be left alone.
5. ‘REAL LIFE’
In “Real Life” the singer tries to understand if their imagination is actually reality or not. It also follows the idea of repetition by saying something won’t happen again, knowing that, in reality, it will.
“Last time, I’m touching your face / We tried but I’m walking away from you / Something I gotta do”
The Marías in Submarine’s fifth track, Real Life.
6. ‘BLUR’
In the sixth song of the album, we continue to follow the idea of the last one, “Real Life”. The narrator still understands themselves as an avoidant in the mess that they made of their life. A highlight is that “Blur” is also well built in the sound of it – there is a build and a fall demonstrating the idea of what would be a blurred vision.
7. ‘PARANOIA’
This track follows a relationship guided by the “Paranoia” of the singer’s partner. The loved one believes they’re being cheated on, yet from what the singer tells us, they have no solid reason to think that. This distrust affects the relationship by annoying the singer and making the partner more controlling of them.
8. ‘LEJOS DE TI’
In Submarine’s first spanish track, the singer misses her love and questions herself on why she still loves them – even though they are not a thing anymore. The feelings, the memories, the songs… But, at the end of the day, she’s alone remembering what they had and yearns for it.
9. ‘LOVE YOU ANYWAY’
Declaring your love to someone is not the hard part of a new beginning. The hardest part is actually admitting to yourself that you’re in love. In this track, the singer fights the embarrassment that comes with having feelings for someone, even if they made it clear that they correspond to it: “Maybe, I may never find the words to say / Wait another lifetime so that I could stay”.
10. ‘AY NO PUEDO’
The second and last spanish song talks about a long-term relationship that is so intense and funded that the lovers can’t fit in it anymore, it hurts but it’s the best for them to leave each other.
“¿Qué pasa si más nunca me dejas en paz? / Llevo mil años amándote ya / No me puedo controlar, yo te tengo que borrar / Fue tan bonito y hecho pedazos”
The Marías in Submarine’s tenth track, Ay No Puedo.
11. ‘NO ONE NOTICED’
In “No One Noticed”, the singer’s ex-lover was her everything. They were the one that truly understood and cared for her. The relationship has ended but her love for them hasn’t. Even though in the end of their relationship he was distant, she even mentions the idea of being in such desperation that she desires an online connection.
12. ‘VICIOUS SENSITIVE ROBOT’
This song plays with the opposite. By the title, we could question: how can something be vicious and sensitive? A robot and sensitive? The chorus answers it for us, by saying: “I got myself so high I can’t look down / Do it all to make your day / Anything to take the pain away / And if you don’t see why I gotta go / Maybe I should get away”.
13. ‘IF ONLY’
“I can’t say goodbye / Even when I try / Why’d I even leave? / You tell me” In the second-last track, the singer understands she isn’t able to leave her partner and wishes they won’t leave her, although she knows they’ll eventually leave her, staying only in her dreams.
14. ‘SIENNA’
The final track explores a world in which a broken relationship actually worked. The song’s name refers to a potential child the singer desired to have and what life would be with it. In an interview for Variety, Maria, the vocalist, says: “Sienna would have acted like you, she would have jumped in the pool just like you, and she would have sang to all her pets like I do… she would have done all these things like us. But because we broke up, Sienna will never exist.”
Overall, this is an amazing album you should definitely give it a listen. Especially if you can relate to the reasoning for the color of the album, blue. On the Instagram post above, the band explains the color represents “not only grief and loneliness, but also hope, rebirth and exploration”.
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The article above was edited by Clara Rocha.
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