Maria Usbeck here might make you blink twice but she released a beautiful debut album back in 2016 that firmly placed her in the visual field of those who know. She followed up with two more excellent LPs over the years, the latest from 2025. Now though – she is gearing up to share some more experimental kind of jazzy pop songs that nicely stack up into a five track EP. She managed to create a unique sort of multi-layered sound forest that is both fun and easy to navigate, with her cool vocals and lyrics leading the way – no existe nada, más que está luz.
As a long time listener first time caller, this outlet is very excited that Maria agreed to do a photo-interview for the series, creating visual context to the themes of love, lust, longing, anguish, obsession and acceptance that drive this EP. Canciones De Amor is out September 18th via the charming people of Cascine – find the opening track Luz attached below and dive into the perspectives of Maria Usbeck.
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Where did it all begin?
At a conservatory where I learned piano and got spanked by nuns.
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Where are you now?
In between places but time is a construct so is space and place. I think I’m in the middle of a transition, getting pulled elsewhere but fighting it.
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Where do you want to go?
Where can one live without having to participate in this atrocious late stage capitalism… musically I want to keep evolving my sound but staying true to myself.
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What’s your process?
It’s been mostly driven by others at the moment. As well as self reflection.
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Where do you draw inspiration from?
Hacking the mainframe.
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Where do we go from here?
We all need to reconnect. Unplug.
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Maria Usbeck is gonna play live at Cassette in Ridgewood to celebrate the release, on Sept 19 and 24. Tickets are selling faster than wage gaps can rise in this economy – so be quick.
You can also find her song Luz – and many more – on the current iteration of the official Poule d’Or playlist, on Spotify and Apple Music.
