"Forced into the ground / To conceal the sound / Hidden from the crowd / Heart breaking too loud..."
The Official Video for Brooklyn based Hello Mary's latest indie rock chunkiness "Looking Right Into The Sun" finds the bandmates DIY promoting the hell out of a show only to find one person showing up. Been there done that, well maybe not just one but a handful only. Those shows are at once depressing but also so freeing as you sometimes end up having the most fun playing for friends. Not that Hello Mary comprised of Helena Straight (guitar, vox), Mikaela Oppenheimer (bass), and Stella Wave (drums, vox) have this problem anymore. Their punchy brand of rock that seems to pull from grunge, post punk, post hardcore, jangle pop and shoegaze with well constructed interweaving musical play and stellar vocals is not easy to walk away from. In fact, within earshot would make one literally run towards it. It is the kind of sound that feels infused with the proto punkian late 70's tones to the 90's college indie radio sound that is everything (to me) and amid a proliferation of pop forward adult contemporary pop, Hello Mary's songs feel like addictive gems that you get lost in and share with friends. They are also a great potent live band, a talent that is not always the case these days. We have all eagerly waited for artists based on their streaming songs only to find out they suck live which is so, so disappointing. NOT the case here at all.
Hello Mary has been making music since 2019 (just teens) but "Looking Right Into The Sun" is a debut record of sorts, their first single since signing with Frenchkiss Records and they share this about the track:
“‘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.”
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://twitter.com/HelloMaryBand?
https://www.tiktok.com/@hellomaryband?lang=en
https://m.facebook.com/hellomaryband/
https://www.instagram.com/hellomaryband/?hl=en
Brooklyn-based Hello Mary have signed to esteemed indie label Frenchkiss Records. 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.
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."
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Hello Mary, indie rock, alt rock, post punk, jangle pop, three piece, shoegaze, post grunge, grungy, vocal harmonies, stellar vox, FrenchKiss Records, "Looking Right Into The Sun",
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