{"id":412122,"date":"2026-01-16T01:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T01:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/412122\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T01:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T01:35:10","slug":"maria-zardoyas-not-for-radio-winter-in-the-garden-live-show-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/412122\/","title":{"rendered":"Maria Zardoya’s Not for Radio ‘Winter in the Garden’ Live Show: Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOne year ago this month, Mar\u00eda Zardoya<\/a> found herself in upstate New York, right in the dead of winter. Hunkered down inside Sam Evian and Hannah Cohen\u2019s<\/a> Flying Cloud Recordings studio, with no pre-written material, the Mar\u00edas singer recorded her debut solo record, under the moniker Not For Radio<\/a>. \u201cMy 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,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cAnd that\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe album, fittingly titled Melt<\/a>, was released this past October. It\u2019s a cozy affair, best heard in the evening during the chilly months, surrounded by candles and nature. And that\u2019s 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. \u201cTouring it during the same time of year it was written felt important to me,\u201d she wrote, in a pamphlet handed to the audience. \u201cSo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Winter in the Garden tour came to New York earlier this week for three nights at Brooklyn\u2019s 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<\/a> and flowy skirts<\/a>, complete with rosaries<\/a> around fans\u2019 necks. (If you left your rosary at home, you could easily buy one at the merch stand.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show is a loose homage to Swan Lake, divided into three acts: \u201cEnchanted Fireflies,\u201d \u201cSwan in the Night,\u201d and \u201cThe Underworld.\u201d Following an opening set by a string quartet, Zardoya emerged as a bird (\u201ca princess trapped in a swan,\u201d as the program reads), wearing a dazzling, white fluffy gown<\/a> designed by the late Alexander McQueen. She then launched into the trippy \u201cPuddles,\u201d the synths trickling through as she stood on a platform covered in moss, surrounded by dripping candles. \u201cWe wrote these songs a couple hours north of here, in Sam\u2019s cabin in the woods,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cAnd it feels so surreal to be in this beautiful theater, playing these songs for you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThroughout the set, Zardoya played three unreleased gems: \u201cComet,\u201d \u201cAche,\u201d and the hypnotizing \u201cLiving Room.\u201d Before the latter, she asked the audience to envision the space as if it were their home. \u201cI\u2019d like us all to pretend like this is our living room,\u201d she said. \u201cOur beautiful, extravagant living room. And we\u2019re all here together and the fire\u2019s on, and we have blankets and candles and we\u2019re just having a great time.\u201d Mission accomplished.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tZardoya first teased the solo project \u2014 her \u201calternate reality,\u201d as she describes it \u2014 with three voice messages<\/a>, featuring her thoughts<\/a> on love and nature<\/a>. 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<\/a>, is worth your time).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn the warm summer air and in the dead of night, swans choose each other,\u201d she says in one of the voiceovers. \u201cNature isn\u2019t grand, but it is simple. The trees speak in centuries \u2014 slow and steady \u2014 in truths we have not learned: in the rivers, the forests, the mushrooms sprouting from the moss, the stillness of the lake.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone<\/p>\n

\n\tThe highlight of the evening was at the end of the second act, when consecutive magical moments took place, beginning with Zardoya\u2019s cover of Radiohead<\/a>\u2019s \u201cNude.<\/a>\u201d It\u2019s 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 \u2014 \u201cYou\u2019ll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking\u201d \u2014 Zardoya opts for a softer delivery, hauntingly receding from the mic. We can only hope she covers \u201cWeird Fishes\/Arpeggi\u201d next.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tShe then waded into \u201cSwan,\u201d 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<\/a> the track as a love letter to \u201cwhoever my swan will be.\u201d She followed that up with the sensual \u201cNot the Only One,\u201d which she released a video<\/a> for the following day, and the sunny \u201cVueltas,\u201d sung in Spanish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\tWhile the crowd screamed every word to the viral Mar\u00edas hit \u201cNo One Noticed,\u201d they also did for the Not For Radio stunner \u201cBack to You,\u201d proving this solo project is just as revered as Zardoya\u2019s 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\u2019s finally free.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n