Greg Mendez – Beauty Land

These days, with streaming services adding over 100,000 songs every day, keeping up with new music can seem overwhelming. But at the same time, how many of those songs are worth keeping up with? And doesn’t the cream rise to the top?

Writing for No Ripcord about Chris Bell’s landmark solo track, “I Am The Cosmos,” Weston Cutter reflected on this phenomenon:

The Rothschilds aren’t in control, the government didn’t plan 9/11, and most great music has been found and acknowledged by someone.

For the most part, I agree with this. It’s harder for something truly special to fly under the radar in this global, interconnected age—and yet Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter Greg Mendez managed it.

Mendez has been making music for twenty years now, but he didn’t really break through in earnest until 2023, when the eponymously titled Greg Mendez cracked Best Of lists everywhere—No Ripcord’s included. While earlier progress was undoubtedly hampered by significant personal challenges—addiction, homelessness, a general sense of self-sabotage—his rich back catalogue proves that the talent was always there.

Now signed to Dead Oceans, Beauty Land is Mendez’s first taste of releasing a record against a backdrop of expectation. The first encouraging sign is its svelte runtime—Beauty Land’s fourteen tracks barely exceed 26 minutes in total, which suits the restless Mendez, who has a wonderful knack for calling time on an idea before it overstays its welcome.

“Looking Out Your Window” is a great example. At 103 seconds, it weaves its magic, painting a powerful vignette of what it’s like to observe death in a hospital room, and then swiftly moves on. Mendez’s startlingly direct lyrics—“It’s the same old shit as every day/Not in room 1039”—capture a jarring juxtaposition many of us will be familiar with: how can people be getting on with mundane everyday stuff out there when this is happening in here?

The longest song is “So Mean,” which still doesn’t quite exceed three minutes, yet in the context of Beauty Land feels positively epic. While Elliott Smith comparisons are pretty much inevitable, Mendez’s music generally has a warmer glow than Smith’s. I think his expertly restrained use of harmonies, which come courtesy of his wife Veronica on this occasion, is key to this.

Other highlights include “No Evil,” with its understated Sufjan-esque piano coda, and the delicately fingerpicked “Sunsick,” on which Mendez reflects on forgiveness and regret (“I remember there’s no one else I have to blame/it’s so lonely”) in a surprisingly deep register.

Although Beauty Land slowly and patiently unveils its charms, it doesn’t take long to realise just what a phenomenal achievement it is. It may have taken him twenty years, but Mendez has joined the elite tier of singer-songwriters.

Beauty Land is out now via Dead Oceans.