Greg Mendez, Scarlet Rae

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Stephen Yang

Greg Mendez sitting in a snowy parking lot.

Greg Mendez

media release: Philadelphia singer-songwriter Greg Mendez announces his long-awaited new album, Beauty Land, with the release of its lead single “I Wanna Feel Pretty.” On Beauty Land, his debut LP for Dead Oceans due May 29th, we’re guided by a wry but forgiving narrator, an underdog who has learned to balance cynicism and faith. These songs are self-effacing without self-pity, carefully constructed altars of imperfection channeled through pop melodies, shimmering but urgent guitars, and a voice that reaches for choir boy innocence.

Of the shot-on-35mm video directed by Rhys Scarabosio, Mendez says “I spent most of my childhood in the suburbs, surrounded by the American Dream. Grand and lonely, strip malls and housing developments. Cathedrals of consumerism and reconstituted culture. The stores weren’t built for the towns, the towns were built for the stores. No one really belongs. The dream is close enough to smell but as soon as you reach out, your hand passes right through - a hologram of a promise. I hoped this video would feel like that.

The bulk of Beauty Land was recorded directly to tape, almost entirely alone in Mendez’s makeshift home studio in Philadelphia - a small room with no natural light. It’s his first full-length album since his unexpected breakthrough self-titled album in 2023, which was a slow burn success following 15 years of writing and recording music in relative obscurity between Philly and New York. Beauty Land picks up where we left off three years ago – plumbing the depths of grief, love, and addiction – but its intense, quiet clarity shows Mendez at his songwriting best.

Mendez is taking his stark and affecting live show on the road this summer. Pre-sales for the tour begin on Weds March 4th with general on-sale starting on Fri March 6th at 10 am local time. Tickets will be available at gregmendez.net. 

"In less than two minutes, Greg Mendez can express a lifetime’s worth of pain, regret, and resilience.” -Pitchfork 

“It's at once a grandiose and understated... Mendez’s severe lyrical specificity opens up entire worlds in which the listener can find themselves.” -Rolling Stone

"In Mendez's hands, coming to terms with the worst of times has led to music so grippingly human, you'll want to hear him grapple with his demons on an endless loop." -NPR

"Mendez’s unrefined, plaintive voice, his piercing melodies, and his conversational but haunting lyrics all mark him out as one of the best songwriters to come out of a city teeming with great songwriters." -Stereogum

“The best songwriters can take visceral moments from their lives and bend them to the palettes of the people listening to them unfold, so they can inject themselves into these spaces; Mendez’s ability to leave that door cracked for the rest of us is what makes him one of our subtlest geniuses.” -Paste

“Nakedly honest and gently strummed indie rock confessionals.” -The FADER