Mariana de Miguel, aka Girl Ultra, moves through music with a magnetism that’s impossible to ignore. She’s approachable, soulful, and unafraid of shapeshifting and genre-bending. Fresh off the Blush era, a hazy, introspective chapter rich in melancholy, she’s been stepping boldly into a vibrant new space with Tomás, her electrifying collaboration with Chromeo and Empress Of. It’s not just a sonic shift, it’s a merging of identities. “There are many places where Mariana and Girl Ultra come together,” she says. “They fuse naturally.”
Last night, on the first stop of her North American tour, the electric duality between Mariana and Girl Ultra lit up the stage at Gramps Wynwood to bring Miami the show we didn’t know we needed. Mexico’s indie underground brother-sister duo, Valgur, opened for la Chory with a dreamy and theatrical act reminiscent of the sounds of our adolescence.
For Girl Ultra, her hit single Tomás is the first taste of an album years in the making that was fully produced by Chromeo, the Canadian electro-funk duo made up of David “Dave 1” Macklovitch and Patrick “P-Thugg” Gemayel. As a teen, she once saved up to see them live in CDMX’s indie heyday. “It’s a full-circle thing,” she reflects, “bringing their sound into my world and vice versa.” The track captures that alchemic integration: Chromeo’s bright, funk-driven polish filtered through her darker, grittier pop sensibility, resulting in what she calls “a little trashier, a little darker… an up-tempo roast song for a man who doesn’t exist, but also does.”
In the studio, Empress Of brought her signature mastery of pop composition with alternative nuance. Together, they crafted Tomás as both a name and a feeling; universal in sound, easy to say in any language, and designed to live beyond one specific face or story. Where Blush held its emotions close, Tomás lets them burst out into the world. The upcoming album, entirely in Spanish, will hold both energies: the wild, dancefloor-ready tracks and the quieter, introspective moments. “One of my biggest idols is on this album,” she hints. “And there’s an artist I never thought would be featured, singing in Spanish. That’s huge, para nosotros”
Girl Ultra’s sonic palette is wider than ever. Alongside Chromeo’s shimmer and Empress Of’s pop elegance, she folds in the deep textures she loves: dark funk grooves, Habibi Funk influences, and even drops Turkish samples she hunted down herself (read more on our recent feature about Habibi Funk here). These elements meet her distinct vocal identity, her raw chord progressions, and her love for “trashy sounds,” creating what she calls a “sonic world” that refuses to sit neatly inside a genre.
On tour, this new era has been met with open arms and lit dance floors. In France, she found a crowd that mirrored CDMX’s vibrancy: “People there go to clubs and concerts to dance. All ages, no one talking, just moving,” she says. Her current playlist includes the dreamy pop of her friend Foudeqush and the 80s-tinged new wave of Valgur and beyond. The thread connecting it all is the same one that runs through her hometown’s scene, a city she describes as “colors, chaos, and grit all packed into one place,” where posh neighborhoods and taco stands coexist within blocks. “It’s how I make my music,” she says. “That mix reflects in the scene.”
If she could speak to her younger self, the “Marianita” with a dream, she’d tell her to “just mess it up.” No more fear of mistakes or needing to appear invulnerable. “Even if it’s a good or shitty show, it adds up to who you are on and off stage,” she says. “Use your free will to the max and let it be.” It’s a philosophy that informs her art now: side quests, sonic experiments, and a commitment to making Girl Ultra “genreless” in spirit as much as in sound.
She ended her first show in Miami the way any epic soundmaker and vibe architect would: down on the dance floor with us. As I bring myself back from that unforgettable moment, I can’t help but feel electrified by the integrated soundforce that is Mariana/Girl Ultra. The rest of her North American tour promises that same energy: dynamic, organic, and intimate enough to feel like playing in a friend’s garage. “I love seeing faces that have been at my shows for years,” she says. “It’s refreshing for me, Mariana, and also for Girl Ultra.” And on stage, she admits, Girl Ultra might wear more leg or cleavage than Mariana but the core they’re the same. “It’s just a little power.”
Catch Girl Ultra on her North American tour at the upcoming dates below and grab tickets to her NYC or Chicago shows here.
GIRL ULTRA NORTH AMERICA “BLUSHING” TOUR DATES
August 13 – Miami, FL – Gramps
August 14 – Orlando, FL – Conduit
August 16 – Atlanta, GA – Purgatory at Masquerade
August 18 – Washington, DC – Pearl Street
August 19 – Philadelphia, PA – MilkBoy
August 21 – Boston, MA – Middle East (Upstairs)
August 22 – New York, NY – Zone One at Elsewhere
August 25 – Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz
August 27 – Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground
August 28 – Detroit, MI – Loving Touch
August 29 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean
August 30 – Minneapolis, MN – Turf Club
All Photos by Valerie Chaparro.
