“I went into Not for Radio with the intention of not writing any pop songs,” María Zardoya says. It’s a sharp departure for an artist on the heels of a breakthrough in the genre: With the indie-pop quartet The Marías, Zardoya has enjoyed crossover success this year, from performing at Coachella to landing three Billboard Hot 100 hits, including the group’s viral smash “No One Noticed” — and now contending for a Grammy nomination in the best new artist category. Yet Melt, Zardoya’s solo debut as Not for Radio, plays like a love letter to the environment rather than a side quest for solo stardom.
“It’s a project with songs that I want people to experience the way that I love experiencing music — out in nature, lying under a tree or going on a walk,” she says. “[It’s written] completely out of my comfort zone and away from the industry.”
Penned during the wintertime in upstate New York, Melt (out Oct. 10) was created in collaboration with Sam Evian and Gianluca Buccellati and offers a lush collection of reflective ballads infused with gothic romanticism and a touch of psychedelia. As Zardoya describes, the album is an invitation to reconnect — with oneself, with love and with the natural world.
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Winter Walks
We went into a cabin in the woods in upstate New York in the dead of winter — and I’m Puerto Rican, I hate the cold. (Laughs.) But I wanted to make myself uncomfortable. I made it a point every single morning to go on a two-hour nature walk. It didn’t matter if it was snowing, raining, sleeting or ice everywhere. I was like, “Let’s just put on whatever gear we have and go trekking through the woods.” You can see that reflected in the music. I was so inspired by nature and everything that I was seeing on those walks — how the light [sparkled], the moss sprouting from the snow and the little green sprouts.
Lord Of The Rings
The first day there, I discovered that Sam and [Gianluca] were both huge fans of Lord of the Rings. Luca was reading the books, and Sam had already read it. They were geeking out over the story, and I felt kind of left out. So I watched the movie; I really liked it, but I got spooked that I couldn’t finish it. It felt very much in line with how we were experiencing life, like hobbits in the woods. I think that movie early on showed itself to us. We were loosely inspired by the visuals and the essence of the movie.
Broadcast At Dawn
We were also listening to a lot of [indie band] Broadcast on our way to the hikes, Hope Sandoval’s solo projects and Thom Yorke at night. We were sharing music back and forth with each other. I want Not for Radio to be very much of the season. We wrote the entire album in three weeks, and what’s interesting is that the tracklist [follows the] order in which we wrote the songs. It’s very much of the moment.
Natural Psychedelia
Sam and Luca dabbled a little bit with psychedelics, but I just felt like I was already living in a psychedelic time because I was experiencing a world that I had never experienced before. I had never been in upstate New York trekking through snowy woods. There was one morning that we walked on a frozen lake — literally walking on water! Psychedelic moments continuously happened that expanded my awareness, just like a psychedelic [substance] would, without ever having to dabble. Nature was showing itself to me in ways that I had never experienced before, which informed the album.
This story appears in the Oct. 4, 2025, issue of Billboard.