GREG MENDEZ Announces New Album ‘Beauty Land’ out May 29th With New Single “I Wanna Feel Pretty”

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.