The Marías Live in Austin: Moody Center Show Highlights Evolution

The Marías took the stage at ACL Live on Tuesday night for a taping of the famed music television show "Austin City Limits." Their performance showcased a band that has shed any lingering insecurities. The group is more confident and clear in their identity than ever before. With another Austin performance slated for Sunday at the Moody Center, more fans will have a chance to witness their evolved sound. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.

They have, it seems, found a way to become more true to themselves. This is not a common trajectory in the landscape of popular music, where identities are often constructed, refined, and then, invariably, diluted by the demands of an audience. But The Marías in 2025 operate with a kind of stark transparency. Frontwoman María Zardoya, a figure of compelling mystery, moved with clarity. Her presence was a gothic silhouette against the stage lights, her dark hair swinging with a rhythm that was both precise and languid.

The setlist itself was a testament to this journey. The Marías wove through songs in Spanish, a firm nod to Zardoya’s Puerto Rican heritage. She acknowledged, with shouted grace, her Latinx fans. "Otro Atardecer," the band's collaboration with Bad Bunny, resonated with a different kind of melancholy than one might expect, as did the familiar strains of their 2018 breakthrough, "Cariño," and the poignant "Lejos de Ti."

Their latest album, "Submarine," serves as a stark reflection of this identity, and of the trials that have shaped it. Last year the band — particularly Zardoya and producer Josh Conway — navigated the fractured terrain of a romantic breakup, compounded by the profound loss of their manager Gonzo Lubel.

At ACL Live, they performed "Nobody New" and "Back to Me," two recent singles that, for a certain demographic, serve as anthems for the anguish of a breakup. These are, as the contemporary parlance would have it, "down bad" songs, delivered with an authority that belies their emotional depth. And then there was the brief snippet of "Ojos Tristes," their collaboration with Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco. They also revisited tracks from their first album, "Cinema," reminding the audience of the distinct thematic explorations that define each of their musical chapters — each album an identity, a particular story of the band's unfolding.

Zardoya, with that enduring air of mystery that has clung to her since I saw her on a stage in Missouri in 2021, spoke of writing "No One Noticed." She explained it was born from a morning spent on her bed, listening to a bird song, the melody and lyrics arriving unbidden. She expressed gratitude for the song’s success, for its power to draw new fans into their orbit.

The "ACL" TV taping, with its enforced absence of cell phones, offered a communion. Zardoya herself addressed this, gently urging the audience to simply be present, to absorb the moment without the mediating glare of a screen. She descended from the stage, singing with fans, dancing and offering genuine smiles.

The Marías return to Austin on Sunday, this time at the Moody Center. It will be another opportunity to witness this evolution of a band that, against the usual currents, has found a way to become more themselves.