HELLO MARY SIGNS TO FRENCHKISS RECORDS - SHARE NEW SINGLE “LOOKING RIGHT INTO THE SUN”

"For all the praise thrust on them, words can’t quite capture the sensational grit created by Hello Mary” KEXP

Brooklyn-based Hello Mary have signed to esteemed indie label Frenchkiss Records. Today the trio - Helena Straight (guitar, vox), Mikaela Oppenheimer (bass), and Stella Wave (drums, vox) - have also shared a new single “Looking Right Into The Sun.” Driven by a tight and dynamic rhythm section that gives way to Straight’s crystalline and confident falsetto, the song features the band’s trademark harmonies and their ability to meld elements of 90s shoegaze with indie rock and grunge into something that is all their own. It was written in true Hello Mary fashion - a collage of different guitar parts, lyrics and rhythmic changes written by all three members. They share, “‘Looking Right Into The Sun’ plays with general themes of feeling stuck and restricted by circumstances out of one’s control. For us specifically it relates to us having to practice as a band during COVID, not being able to play shows, and being stuck in the thick of writing songs out of a need to cope. The main repeating line of the song ‘Looking right into the Sun,’ plays with the idea of confronting something with such duality - the sun is beautiful and mesmerizing yet looking directly at it will blind you- kind of like confronting a hard truth and turning it into a sick song.” 

The video concept, which was developed by Abbie Jones and Stella Wave together, plays with these general themes through depicting the band tirelessly promoting a show that only one person ends up attending.  Listen/share “Looking Right Into The Sun” here and watch the clip here: 

Hello Mary formed while the trio was in high school (Wave graduated in 2018 and her bandmates are finishing this month). And while “Looking Right Into The Sun” is the band’s debut for their new label, Hello Mary’s first release came by way of an album, Ginger, which was recorded and released in 2020.  Hello Mary have since followed up with 3 additional singles -  “Evicted,” “Take Something,” and “Sink In” b/w “Stinge.”  Unlike the album, they were recorded in a proper studio, and with each release the band’s fanbase has only grown more solid and widespread.  That includes drawing the attention of Frenchkiss Records who plan on dropping the band’s new album sometime early next year. The label's owner Syd Butler says, “Frenchkiss has been waiting to sign a band like Hello Mary for years. A tight sisterhood of friendship that believes in themselves individually,  as musicians, and the art that they make. Once you’ve seen them, you can't wait to see them again. Their music, while new, wraps around you like an old soul. We are so excited to be working with them."

After a handful of recent dates supporting Sunflower Bean and Les Savy Fav, Hello Mary will be playing two area shows: 

6/3 - Space Ballroom - Hamden, CT - tickets here 

6/4 - Mercury Lounge -  New York City - tickets here.   

Hello Mary reference alternative rock of the nineties alongside Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley as influences but their contemporaries are bands like Palberta, Spirit of the Beehive, and Palehound, artists who don’t shy from unusual time signatures, careening feedback, and unconventional harmonies, all for the sake of surprising a listener.  Prioritizing sensation over narrative cohesion opens up the ability to make even the most lyrically devastating songs pleasurable.  And for a fledgling band, Hello Mary has enviable range, flitting between rock stylings with the ease of studied musicians. They’ve been doing this for a long time, albeit in dorm rooms and the privacy of their parents’ homes, but with “Looking Right Into The Sun” they’re offering the product of hours of intimate, synergistic collaboration to the world. 

Past praise for Hello Mary

“Ginger simmers with a quiet glamor” Ladygunn

“NYC trio Hello Mary are back with a new two-song single, and it's got a grungy indie rock vibe that's cut from a similar cloth as stuff like Liz Phair and Speedy Ortiz.  Brooklyn Vegan on “Stinge”/ “Sink” In” for “30 songs out this week”

“Enticing and turbulent”  Big Takeover on “Evicted”

“Hello Mary are my favorite new band from New York City. Sometimes you get lucky and discover a project that restores your faith in the new. Sometimes you just need a great show with passion, kids moshing, and guitars really, REALLY loud. Hello Mary is the future of rock & roll, and they’re only just beginning.” – Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean

"Hello Mary are that very rare band who nod to their influences while sounding completely new. Most importantly, these are great songs and they are great players. This sounds like hope to me." – Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses, The Breeders, Belly

"Hello Mary has everything that gets me truly excited about a band.. They have their own unique sound down to their strong adolescent bones"

– Britta Philiips of Luna, Dean, Britta

Find Hello Mary here: 

https://linktr.ee/Hellomaryband

For more information please contact Grandstand Media:

Lisa Gottheil - lisag@grandstandhq.com