How do you describe a band like The Marías? Billed as alt-pop, the Angelenos incorporate a span of genres from jazz to reggaeton on their first full-length album, Cinema. However you describe it, one thing is certain—Cinema is a gorgeous album that, as described by lead singer María Zardoya, offers listeners a “break away from real life for a while to create some kind of dream world in their heads.”

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Atlanta, Zardoya left for Los Angeles to launch her music career. The Marías formed in 2015 when Zardoya began dating and making music with Hollywood native Josh Conway. In addition to Zardoya and Conway (the band’s drummer and producer) are guitarist Jesse Perlman and keyboardist Edward James.

Prior to Cinema, the quartet created a name for itself on two-part EPs, Superclean Vol. I and Superclean Vol. II, in 2017 and 2018. Its anticipated full-length debut doesn’t disappoint. The album maintains the jazz-inflected, sleepy dream-pop for which the band is known while also branching out into more disparate genres.

Gentle and introspective opening piece “Just a Feeling” provides an instrumental interlude that eases listeners into the dreamy cinematic world of the album. The song is beautiful in its simplicity. It pairs an uncomplicated strummed classical guitar melody with lush strings that sets the sweetly melancholic tone carried throughout the other tracks.

The transition to the next song is a little jarring. “Calling U Back” begins with an abrupt bark, courtesy of Conway and Zardoya’s Australian shepherd, Lucy. Intentionally more in-your face than previous offerings, it’s used as an opportunity to branch out from the band’s signature sound. Featuring a hip-hop-inspired vocal cadence, the regretful breakup song—while certainly more energetic than much of the album—still doesn’t feel out of place.

The Marías initially began making music with the intention of having their songs featured in films. Although the band has moved on to a music-focused approach, their creative process still will includes a visual component, the band has said. Nowhere on the album is this process more apparent than on “Hush.”

Starting with a bouncy but dark synth that transforms into a backbeat carried throughout the song, it evokes a dystopian action-adventure in which the protagonist locks eyes with an initially uninterested love interest through a crowded, dimly lit club. Zardoya’s velvety voice is seductive while chastising the would-be hero: “Don’t think you’ve made it/ Under my skin/ Could never get in/ Forget about it.”

“Hable con Ella” provides a short instrumental interlude, helping the album segue into the portion featuring Zardoya singing in both English and Spanish. The 30-second song cleverly echoes the melody found on “Just a Feeling” but with horns instead of guitar. “Little by Little,” which features Spanish lyrics and a chorus in English, highlights the subtle differences in Zardoya’s voice when singing in each language. While undeniably gorgeous in both, Zardoya’s vocals take on a slightly smoky edge when singing in Spanish.

The album features two songs that are exclusively Spanish: “Un Millón” and “Fog as a Bullet.” “Un Millón” is a tribute to Zardoya’s Latin roots and has The Marías doing their take on reggaeton. Their interpretation of the genre is beautifully executed. The song blends reggaeton with soft synths while sticking with the band’s dreamy style. “Fog as a Bullet” is a haunting little ballad that Zardoya wrote in response to the helicopter crash that killed basketball star Kobe Bryant. The song features paired-back instrumentation led by a classical guitar melody and backed by soft synths and jazzy brass. It’s about how things, like the fog shrouding the helicopter, are both incredibly beautiful yet destructive. 

“The Mice Inside This Room” sits on a slightly different track than most of the album, starting off with a fast tempo and moody, anxious synths. The song is reminiscent of Radiohead circa OK Computer, a band The Marías credit as one of their contemporary influences. Its forlorn tone is bolstered by haunting backing vocals that gently fade into strings that return to the melody found on “Just a Feeling,” neatly tying the song to the album.

Cinema closes with its longest song, “Talk to Her,” which clocks in at nearly five and a half minutes. Its title is the English version of earlier track “Hable con Ella,” and a tribute to filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (who has a film of the same title) whom Zardoya credits as a major inspiration behind The Marías. The sprawling song opens with a piano-forward instrumental interlude that segues into Zardoya reading a spoken word poem. The last third of the song transitions into the layered, dreamy vocals found so elegantly throughout the album.