One year ago this month, María Zardoya found herself in upstate New York, right in the dead of winter. Hunkered down inside Sam Evian and Hannah Cohen’s Flying Cloud Recordings studio, with no pre-written material, the Marías singer recorded her debut solo record, under the moniker Not For Radio. “My intention with this project was to make music for the love of experimenting, far from home, fully in the moment, open to whatever stream of consciousness unfolded around us,” she said. “And that’s exactly what we did in the snowy woods, tucked away, as ice melted beneath our feet and as we melted into the songs. What grew from the melted ice is this album.”
The album, fittingly titled Melt, was released this past October. It’s a cozy affair, best heard in the evening during the chilly months, surrounded by candles and nature. And that’s exactly what Zardoya brings to the stage on her intimate Not For Radio theater tour, which is taking place on the anniversary of its creation. “Touring it during the same time of year it was written felt important to me,” she wrote, in a pamphlet handed to the audience. “So you could feel what the air felt like as we made these songs: the cold on our skin, the freshness of a new year, and the calm of introspection.”
The Winter in the Garden tour came to New York earlier this week for three nights at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre. The historic, potentially haunted 97-year-old venue was the ideal place for this show, with its ornate ceilings and proscenium arch, and a vintage organ console on display. And like many concerts these days, there were strict unspoken rules about attire: black dresses and flowy skirts, complete with rosaries around fans’ necks. (If you left your rosary at home, you could easily buy one at the merch stand.)
Maria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone
Maria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone
The show is a loose homage to Swan Lake, divided into three acts: “Enchanted Fireflies,” “Swan in the Night,” and “The Underworld.” Following an opening set by a string quartet, Zardoya emerged as a bird (“a princess trapped in a swan,” as the program reads), wearing a dazzling, white fluffy gown designed by the late Alexander McQueen. She then launched into the trippy “Puddles,” the synths trickling through as she stood on a platform covered in moss, surrounded by dripping candles. “We wrote these songs a couple hours north of here, in Sam’s cabin in the woods,” she told the crowd. “And it feels so surreal to be in this beautiful theater, playing these songs for you guys.”
Throughout the set, Zardoya played three unreleased gems: “Comet,” “Ache,” and the hypnotizing “Living Room.” Before the latter, she asked the audience to envision the space as if it were their home. “I’d like us all to pretend like this is our living room,” she said. “Our beautiful, extravagant living room. And we’re all here together and the fire’s on, and we have blankets and candles and we’re just having a great time.” Mission accomplished.
Zardoya first teased the solo project — her “alternate reality,” as she describes it — with three voice messages, featuring her thoughts on love and nature. Those messages are interspersed between songs at the show, alongside ambient cricket sounds and a delightful, mid-show jam by her band: Evian, producer Gianluca Buccellati, bassist and guitarist Doron Zounes, string arranger Oliver Hill, and drummer Sean Mullins (his solo project, Moon Mullins, is worth your time).
“In the warm summer air and in the dead of night, swans choose each other,” she says in one of the voiceovers. “Nature isn’t grand, but it is simple. The trees speak in centuries — slow and steady — in truths we have not learned: in the rivers, the forests, the mushrooms sprouting from the moss, the stillness of the lake.”
Maria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone
Maria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone
The highlight of the evening was at the end of the second act, when consecutive magical moments took place, beginning with Zardoya’s cover of Radiohead’s “Nude.” It’s ambitious to cover any material from an album as beloved as In Rainbows, but Zardoya effortlessly balances honoring the classic while making it all her own. While Thom Yorke usually all but howls the climax — “You’ll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking” — Zardoya opts for a softer delivery, hauntingly receding from the mic. We can only hope she covers “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” next.
She then waded into “Swan,” a perfect segue, considering the muted synths and piano fit right into the Radiohead universe. Zardoya said she was taken with the fact that swans mate for life, and she described the track as a love letter to “whoever my swan will be.” She followed that up with the sensual “Not the Only One,” which she released a video for the following day, and the sunny “Vueltas,” sung in Spanish.
While the crowd screamed every word to the viral Marías hit “No One Noticed,” they also did for the Not For Radio stunner “Back to You,” proving this solo project is just as revered as Zardoya’s band. As the show came to a close, we caught a final glimpse of Zardoya crouched down on the moss, now wearing a black lace dress. She was covered in white feathers that continue to fall down from the ceiling, signaling she’s finally free.
