review of melt - not for radio

I first found maria performing at the observatory in santa ana when i was 17 and immediately connected with her music and her voice. Her voice sends you to another dimension, there's no doubt about how smoothly she captures the psychedelic vibe in her music, leaving you feeling like you've just floated on a cloud. I do wish I could have kept the marias as my little secret for a bit longer but I'm glad they got the recognition they deserved and for maria to wrap these songs with her heart and soul. From the superclean vol. melt feels like it's grown up, more mature sister. There is a sort of beautiful sadness in maria's voice, that she can make the most tragic song sound angelic, heartbreak, attachment, grief, loss, wishful thinking, dwelling on the past, a reckoning to be seen by someone that doesn't love you anymore, a pleading for a second chance, a reminder that I still love you and I will wait forever. This was maria's first solo project outside of the marias which, I wasn't expecting of anything else, melt is very reminiscent of the superclean vol. but not as dreamy or psychedelic as ABQ or only in my dreams. It's more of a slow burn, pulling you down under the water to hold your breath, tugging your arm through the forest breathing in the crisp air. I feel like this was a passion project made for the things she could not express while being in the marias, using solo songwriting as an outlet for the heartbreak and yearning she felt. I do heavily resonate with these songs which makes me happy and sad. It's extremely difficult being a hopeless romantic, to be a lover in today's day and age and maria captures the essence of the struggles you have to face as someone who yearns for love with only one person - perfectly. 

I love the symbolism of swans and eternal love being used as metaphors for romance as a way of showing her loyalty and devotion to the one she loves. The feeling of wanting to go into the forest and wander off until you're lost, lay on the ground and submerge yourself into the moss. Dipping your fingers into a koi pond while the fish swim and brush against your fingers. Walking into a misty garden with the heaviness of a broken heart. Having to physically reconnect with nature and lay on the grass to ground you and let the tears from your eyes help wash away the rose tint so you can see better. Getting it out of your system once and for all before you move on as a form of catharsis for the soul, necessary and important for growth and healing when you have experienced betrayal and pain in the ultimate form. It's like buying a new perfume for the first time after a breakup, knowing that it will always remind you of a certain time in your life and they will never get to know what it smells like. There are new things entering your life and a new era and season for yourself that they will never truly understand or see, which hurts and feels good in a way. It's a process of letting go for the final time and saying goodbye. 'We will be friends and I will always hold you in a special place in my heart, I hate that I had to go through all this pain but I would have never gotten this if you had never done that in the first place.'

 It's bittersweet when you make something beautiful out of pain. I'm going to hold this album really close and dear to my heart. Every single song on this album deeply resonated with my soul and I can't just say that about any album. Puddles, not the only one, back to you and water on your nose are my top four songs in melt 100%. I will be listening to this album on repeat for a while. Definitely tugs at the soft spots in my heart when I listen to certain songs. I hope I get to keep it as my four leaf clover hidden in amongst the grass this time <3.