Beauty Land is Greg Mendez’s debut for Dead Oceans, returning with an album that keeps a similar tone to his 2023 self-titled release while leaning further into hypnotic production and creative spontaneity. Several songs come from happy accidents and happenstance, with Mendez letting the music guide his intuition through trial and error. Examples include saving a take meant to be scrapped, recording while a siren passes by, and finding inspiration backstage at an Ohio show. The process is described as less like building from scratch and more like carving away at something already present. “So Mean” features open tuning and began from a heard-in-the-head idea using his wife’s guitar, alongside extensive lyric revisions.
"Having captured a whole new crop of indie folk fans with his wonderful 2023 self-titled release, Greg Mendez has finally returned with a brand new record: Beauty Land, his debut for Dead Oceans. Similar in tone and feel to its predecessor, the new set finds the Philly songwriter leaning even further into hypnotic production and creative spontaneity."
"As Mendez explains to us, several of the songs on Beauty Land are the result of happy accidents or happenstance, as he let the songs guide his intuition through trial and error. Whether it was a take that was supposed to be scrapped being saved at the last minute, a serendipitous siren passing by while recording, or finding inspiration backstage at an Ohio show, Mendez's description of his process almost sounds less like he's crafting a sculpture from scratch and more like he's carving away at a block of marble that some unknown muse dropped at his doorway."
"“I'm too lazy for all that shit, but I kinda heard this in my head, and I picked up the closest guitar, which happened to be my wife V's that she keeps in open tuning,” he tells Consequence. “So, that's how this one ended up coming about. I also filled an entire notebook with lyric revisions before going back to the originals; sometimes that's how it goes.”"
"The final result is just as mesmerizingly, melancholically lovely as the best of his previous work, making good on the album's title. Stream Greg Mendez's Beauty Land below, and scroll on for his full Track by Track breakdown of the record."
Read at Consequence
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