A few weeks ago, The Marías released their debut album CINEMA. Drawing back velvet red curtains, the listener enters a lush, sultry world where romantic imagery swims through captivating lines like “Moonlight stuck in your teeth” from the easygoing “Little by Little,” and “Diamonds on the bed to hold your place here” from the temptation-filled “Calling U Back.”
But this vivid imagery isn’t the only reason the album’s title makes sense for these cinephiles. Lead vocalist María Reál grew up fascinated by films and directors like Pedro Almodóvar (hence the song title “Hable Con Ella”). It’s the kind of passion that helped her cross paths with bandmate Josh Conway, who she’d make film and television scores with.
Flexing their film knowledge, they’ve created a list of classic movies paired with their songs. The band explains, “From start to finish, we want CINEMA to transport listeners and invite them to create new worlds and scenes in their minds, like creating their own mini-movies.” See their picks below.
“Calling U Back” / Mauvis Sang’s airstrip scene
“Calling U Back” with one of the closing scenes from the French movie, Mauvis Sang, where she’s running on the airstrip. There are so many different emotions of longing, heartbreak, and bliss on her face, just like in the song.
“Cariño” / Garden State’s visiting Jesse scene
“Cariño” with the scene in Garden State where they’re riding through the neighborhood on his motorcycle. The characters have such a pure love toward each other, which is definitely reflected in our song “Cariño.”
“Hable Con Ella” / Paris, Texas’s phone scene
“Hable Con Ella” with the scene in Paris, Texas when he calls her on the phone at the booth. The feeling that trumpets emit in this song is a feeling of longing and nostalgia, both emotions that I think the characters were experiencing in this scene.
“All I Really Want Is You” / Romeo + Juliet’s elevator kiss scene
“All I Really Want Is You” in the ’90s version of Romeo + Juliet. When Romeo meets her in the elevator and they kiss.
“Fog as a Bullet” / Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s embrace on the beach scene
“Fog as a Bullet” in the movie Portrait of a Lady on Fire. When Marianne and Heloise are on the beach together and embrace.
“The Mice Inside This Room” / Black Swan’s swan transformation scene
“The Mice Inside This Room” in the movie Black Swan, when she’s in the dressing room and her body starts evolving into the black swan. It’s a total shift that happens mentally for her due to the deep and damaging paranoia she’s felt and the reality that simply exists within her mind. “The Mice Inside This Room” is about paranoia, of hearing things that aren’t really there. It’s one of the darkest songs we’ve ever written.
