Last year, Maria BC put out an arresting debut EP called Devil’s Rain, and they’re following it up later this year with their first full-length album, Hyaline, which was recorded in an apartment in Brooklyn, though Maria BC has since moved on to Oakland. Lead single “The Only Thing” is haunting and transportive, their voice soaring over a murmuring guitar. Maria BC says the song is “about allowing yourself to be seen fully by another person. When you find they aren’t afraid, you realize you shouldn’t be either.”

“It took me a bunch of tries to finish the arrangement for this one. It felt too sparse, while the song is about that full, effervescent, sun-is-coming-up feeling of new love. I spent several weeks adding parts and scrapping them — you know, getting nowhere,” they continued. “Then, at some point, I realized the refrain of another song I was working on had the same chord progression as ‘The Only Thing’ refrain. I turned that into a kind of counter-melody, Liz Fraser style, and I think it tied the whole thing together.”

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “No Reason”
02 “April”
03 “The Only Thing”
04 “ROF”
05 “Keepsakes”
06 “Rerun”
07 “***”
08 “Betelgeuse”
09 “The Big Train”
10 “Good Before”
11 “Hyaline”

TOUR DATES:
02/22 San Francisco, CA @ Gray Area (Noise Pop w/ Arooj Aftab)
03/8 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar (w/ Squirrel Flower & Tenci)
03/9 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo (w/ Squirrel Flower & Tenci)
03/10 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop (w/ Squirrel Flower & Tenci)
03/12-13 New York, NY @ New Colossus
03/15-20 Austin, TX @ SXSW
05/11-14 Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
08/18-21 Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival

Hyaline is out 5/27 via Father/Daughter (US)/Fear Of Missing Out (UK). Pre-order it here.