Last Updated on 2026-02-28 by a-indie
『Marathon』Full Track Review
We begin with the title track “Marathon.” A distorted electric guitar paints a tense, overcast sky while acoustic notes fall like scattered raindrops beneath it. A voice that seizes the heart from its very first sound digs up emotions buried deep in the everyday.
That restless, almost urgent surge quietly falls into rhythm with the turning of the planet on “As the earth turns.”
“Peacemaking” is guided by a walking guitar line, and a hazy resolve slowly gains definition. The steps carry a bittersweet ache, yet they follow no path but the singer’s own.
On “Safety,” strings respond to a prayer-like vocal and shake something loose in the chest. On “Rare,” dry tones and moist resonances cross each other to weave a story. The sound itself seems to breathe.
“Port authority” assembles a landscape from glass-clear rhythms and the suggestion of water in motion, while “The sound” marks time that simply drifts and lingers.
That suspended pulse tilts toward both decadence and nostalgia, offering a beauty like the passage of time held inside a crumbling ruin.
On “Sabotage,” amid a sound tinged with melancholy, all trace of people and history fades, and the listener sinks deeper into a bed of clear air that only nature can produce. Gravity and time are lost; it is as though one dissolves into a nameless creature.
“June” recalls the warmth of a human body, and on “Night & Day” a lost sense of time slowly returns. Both the calm of morning and the restless unease of night settle quietly into place — a recognition that being born human means living as one.
Then comes “May this rain.” A rhythm that falls and falls lands softly against the heart, and a wordless joy seeps out: the joy of simply being here, of feeling music with every part of the body.
On “Channels,” the past and the future, those never to be met again and those not yet encountered, all rush through the chest in an instant. It is not the flicker of a life ending but a light that opens the eye toward a beginning.
The closing track, “Miami.” A gentle voice asks its quiet question over a rhythm like a wavering heart: on this planet that keeps turning despite all its difficulty, will you once more stand on your own two feet as a human being?
A Warning Spirit
Maria BC has described her singing voice as “a warning spirit” — a voice that whispers from somewhere that things cannot continue as they are.
The boundary that separates humans from nature carries almost no meaning on this album. A will to keep looking, and a quiet faith in the power of intervention, reside within the music.
A perfectly transparent ripple of sound washes in from the edge of the world against a barefoot heart. That ripple quietly touches the presence of countless lives sustaining themselves on a fragile earth.
Maria BC Album Release
3rd Album 『Marathon』
Release date: February 27, 2026
Track listing:
1. Marathon
2. As the earth turns
3. Peacemaking
4. Safety
5. Rare
6. Port authority
7. The sound
8. Sabotage
9. June
10. Night & day
11. May this rain
12. Channels
13. Miami
View on Amazon
Maria BC Artist Profile
Maria BC is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has drawn attention with a distinctive sound that fuses elements of folk, ambient, and electronica, and is characterized by a delicate, translucent vocal style and experimental production. She released her debut album 『Hyaline』in 2022, followed by her second album 『Spike Field』on Sacred Bones in 2023, a record praised for sustaining a single, breath-like continuous flow. Based on the West Coast of the United States, she explores themes of environmental issues and personal struggle through her music. Her third album 『Marathon』, released February 27, 2026, marks an evolution toward a more dynamic and diverse sound.
Writer: Wakiki
A BayStars fan who loves coffee, cigarettes, and music. Based in Mie Prefecture. Find all previously written articles here
- is a music media platform run by BELONG, a Japanese music organization. We publish music articles with a focus on indie music.