Greg Mendez has announced a new album, Beauty Land. Due out May 29th, it’s the Philadelphia singer-songwriter’s first full-length for Dead Oceans since he signed to the label in 2024. The folk-pop lead single “I Wanna Feel Pretty,” is out now, landing with a music video directed by Rhys Scarabosio. Watch it below.
Beauty Land, a work wrestling with themes of grief, love, and addiction, came to life in Mendez’s home studio in Pennsylvania, where he recorded the album directly to tape. It’s his follow-up to 2023’s breakthrough self-titled album. Mendez discussed the clip for “I Wanna Feel Pretty” in a press statement: “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.”
He continued, “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.”
Mendez has also announced a sprawling North American tour with Maria BC and Scarlet Rae that will kick off this summer. The itinerary includes stops across the States, as well as two shows in Canada—one in Vancouver and the other in Toronto. See the full list of tour dates below.
Revisit Pitchfork’s review of Greg Mendez.
Beauty Land:
01 I Wanna Feel Pretty
02 Looking Out Your Window
03 Mary / Dreaming
04 Everybody Wants To Be Your Friend (Except Me)
05 Gentle Love
06 Frog
07 It Breaks My Heart
08 Sunsick
09 No Evil
10 Geranium
11 Interlude in D Minor
12 Serving Drinks
13 So Mean
14 Concussion
Greg Mendez:
06-10 Washington, DC – Songbyrd #
06-11 Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall #
06-12 Asheville, NC – Static Age #
06-13 Nashville, TN – The Blue Room #
06-15 Bloomington, IN – The Bishop #
06-16 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon #
06-17 Minneapolis, MN – 7th St Entry #
06-19 Iowa City, IA – Gabe’s Oasis #
06-20 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall #
06-21 Detroit, MI – Lager House #
06-23 Toronto, Ontario – Sound Garage #
06-24 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall #
06-25 Portland, ME – SPACE Gallery #
06-26 Boston, MA – The Sinclair #
06-27 Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom #
06-30 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg #
07-01 Kingston, NY – Tubby’s #
07-10 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church #
07-31 Durham, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room ^
08-01 Atlanta, GA – Aisle 5 ^
08-02 New Orleans, LA – Siberia ^
08-04 Austin, TX – 29th Street Ballroom ^
08-05 Dallas, TX – Club Dada ^
08-08 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar ^
08-09 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar ^
08-10 Los Angeles, CA – Sid the Cat Auditorium ^
08-12 San Francisco, CA – The Independent ^
08-14 Portland, OR – Polaris ^
08-15 Seattle, WA – Barboza ^
08-16 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret ^
08-18 Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club ^
08-19 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court ^
08-21 Denver, CO – Lost Lake ^
08-22 Kansas City, MO – Record Bar ^
08-23 St Louis, MO – Off Broadway ^
08-24 Newport, KY – Southgate House Revival ^
08-25 – Pittsburgh, PA – Bottlerocket ^
# with Scarlet Rae
^ with Maria BC