Hello Mary announce new album "Emita Ox"

Last month saw New York City’s Hello Mary return with their first new music, “0%,” since the release of their 2023 sophomore self-titled LP. The song was an immediate hit garnering praise from The New York Times, The Line Of Best Fit, Rolling Stone, So Young, Paste Magazine, Brooklyn Vegan and a slew of other publications. Today the band are excited to announce the September 13 release of their new album, Emita Ox, via Frenchkiss Records. On it, the New York City trio of Helena Straight, Stella Wave, and Mikaela Oppenheimer unleash their emotions through their alt-rock anthems like flaming weapons and wield them like proud trophies of their collective strength. Since forming in 2019, Hello Mary have ripped into prominence with their fuzzed-out sounds, establishing a darkly playful edge all their own. Possessing a sound that pushes harder into heavy distortion and psychedelic dreamscapes, Emita Ox sees Hello Mary building out their singular universe of gutsy, virtuosic alt-rock. The band co-produced the album alongside Alex Farrar (MJ Lenderman, Indigo De Souza, Wednesday, Snail Mail) in Asheville, NC.

Today Hello Mary also further teased the album with the release of their new single “Three,” a song that evokes the fairy tale of a young girl named Emita and her pet ox. “I was describing a vision I had, but I don’t really know where it came from,” says Straight of writing the song. Though it doesn’t have a specific intended meaning, the imagery is fitting for the band: Oxes are strong and resilient, and much of Emita Ox’s subject matter reveals Hello Mary’s perseverance, as they choose to move through life’s burdens instead of getting beaten down by them.

Hello Mary have been criss-crossing North America supporting the likes of Silversun Pickups (who have invited the band on the road multiple times this past year), American Football and more. In support of Emita Ox the band have announced their UK live debut, including a headline show at Windmill Brixton, as well as performances at End Of The Road Festival, Manchester Psych Fest, and Edinburgh Psych Fest as further UK dates as main support for American Football.

The band have also announced an autumn North America tour with dates kicking off October 4th in Seattle, WA and concluding November 2nd in Houston, TX They play at Los Angeles’ Troubadour on October 10 and New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on October 24. Tickets will be on-sale for all dates from Friday, July 12. This summer Hello Mary will play select headline dates, support Julie on select shows, and make an appearance at Denver’s Underground Music Festival. Additionally, the band is confirmed for Las Vegas’ Best Friends Forever Fest October 11 – 13 and Austin’s Levitation Festival on November 3. All shows are listed below and tickets are available here.

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Hello Mary have spent the last several years refining their intricate alt-rock sound and musicianship. The culmination of this work – done in the studio, at practice and on the road – is reflected on the New York City-based band’s new album Emita Ox The album marks the follow up their acclaimed 2023 self-titled LP, which Rolling Stone called one of the year’s “sharpest, noisiest debuts,” with their most audacious project yet: Emita Ox, arriving September 13 via Frenchkiss Records.

On Emita Ox, Hello Mary push harder into heavy distortion and psychedelic dreamscapes, as they build out their singular universe of gutsy strain of rock. The LP’s labyrinthine production reflects how the band’s musical tastes have expanded from Elliott Smith and Radiohead to encompass experimental post-rock acts like Black Midi and Swans. “This album encompasses a lot of our inspirations,” says Oppenheimer. “It also shows what we’re like as a trio, collectively.”

The project reveals the band leveling up as musicians and composers. Recorded in early 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina, the band played all the instruments on Emita Ox and produced it alongside Alex Farrar (Indigo De Souza, Wednesday, Snail Mail). The members’ contributions to the songwriting and production bleed into each other, but the album is a showcase of their individual strengths: Straight’s ethereal vocal melodies and gritty guitar riffs, Wave’s emotive vocals and knotty drum patterns, and Oppenheimer’s diabolical basslines and experimentation with electronic production. “We map out all the sections beforehand, we like to write intricate parts that complement each other,” says Wave.

Featuring songs that span from 2018 to 2023, Emita Ox is also a document of Hello Mary’s past five years together growing up as bandmates and their arrival into young adulthood. First meeting as teenagers in 2019, the band became fast friends through the pandemic—a global crisis that made coming of age feel even more weighty and complicated. “This album represents a period of time that’s very meaningful to us. The songs are related to things that we all know about, even if it’s not out on the table for everyone else,” Wave explains. “The songwriting and recording process was a very heavy time that I will never forget.” Even if the lyrics touch on serious topics, the band maintains a core sense of play and exploration: jamming is their way of working through these feelings in a way that’s “easy and fun,” Straight says.

Created amid these emotions of frustration and camaraderie, Emita Ox sees Hello Mary ruthlessly diving into a thrilling sound of catharsis. On “0%,” Wave launches into piercing screams for the first time. Oppenheimer says that her bandmate’s intense shrieks “makes the song full of energy and really exciting to play,” especially in the song’s breakdown which ends in a cacophony of noise and vibraphone. Meanwhile, “Down My Life,” which Straight says she wrote after “one of the saddest experiences” of her life, features her angelic vowels on top of warped piano and menacing bass. The band even veers towards prog-rock on songs like “Footstep Misstep,” where complex instrumentation and Wave’s dynamic vocals evoke a world in between fantasy and nightmare.

The LP’s title, Emita Ox, is referenced in “Three,” whose lyrics sound plucked from a fairy tale. “‘Three’ was written after I’d been in a creative rut that lasted a couple months,” says Straight. “I wasn’t focused on getting any message across. My intention was just to write a full song, whether I ended up liking it or not.” Though it doesn’t have an intended meaning, the imagery of the girl Emita and her ox is fitting for the band: Oxes are strong and resilient, and much of Emita Ox’s subject matter reveals Hello Mary’s perseverance, as they choose to move through life’s burdens instead of getting beaten down by them. But oxes are also dependable—much like how they see each other and their relationship. “There’s the lyric that goes, ‘Woke to the hands of three/Stitching and fixing me,’” Wave says to Straight, quoting her own words back to her. “I always picture me and Mikaela with you.” It’s a testament to how they’ve witnessed each other’s heartaches and mended each other back up—through their music and their friendship.

Hello Mary tour dates

July 26 – Underground Music Showcase – Denver, CO
July 28 – Wicker Park Music Festival – Chicago, IL
July 29 – Ace of Cups – Columbus, OH *
July 30 – Drkmttr – Nashville, TN *
Aug 1 – Off Broadway – St Louis, MO ^
Aug 3 – Fox Theatre – Boulder, CO ^
Aug 4 – Meow Wolf – Santa Fe, NM ^
Aug 30 – End of the Road Festival – Dorset, UK
Aug 31 – Manchester Psych Fest – Manchester, UK
Sept 1 – Edinburgh Psych Fest – Edinburgh, UK
Sept 5 – Brixton Windmill – London, UK *
Sept 11 – Rock City – Nottingham, UK %
Sept 12 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow, UK %
Sept 13 – Bristol SWX – Bristol, UK %
Sept 14 – Roundhouse – London, UK %
Oct 4 – Barboza – Seattle, WA *
Oct 6 – Polaris Hall – Portland, OR *
Oct 9 – Brick & Mortar (Popscene) – San Francisco, CA *
Oct 10 – The Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA *
Oct 12 – Best Friends Forever Festival – Las Vegas, NV
Oct 16 – Raccoon Motel – Davenport, IA *
Oct 17 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN *
Oct 19 – Schubas Tavern – Chicago, IL *
Oct 20 – Lager House – Detroit, MI *
Oct 21 – The Garrison – Toronto, ON *
Oct 24 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY *
Oct 25 – Ukie Club – Philadelphia, PA *
Oct 26 – Warsaw – – Brooklyn, NY %
Oct 27 – Songbyrd – Washington, DC *
Oct 29 – Pinhook – Durham, NC *
Oct 30 – Masquerade-Purgatory – Atlanta, GA *
Nov 1 – Andy’s – Denton, TX *
Nov 2 – White Oak Music Hall (upstairs) – Houston, TX *
Nov 3 – Levitation Festival – Austin, TX