Church Girls To Release 'Hidalgo' on September 15; Stream New Single "Better Off"

Photo by Charlie Wrznasty

Stream: "Better Off" at  SoundCloud

(Press Release) Philadelphia-based Church Girls will release Hidalgo on September 15th, and the album is available to pre-order now at Bandcamp. The band shared the first single from the album, "Better Off," of which Church Girls' Mariel Beaumont says:

"The melody and lyrics to Better Off came much more easily than usual for me. As a band, we knew it had potential, so we recorded nearly five versions of it before landing on this one. We’re really happy with the textured, dreamy element Erik Wofford (producer) brought to the track. It’s about a creative relationship that began with promise but ultimately crumbled. I think we’d seen some things in each other that couldn’t be unseen. Writing the song helped me confront some of the mistakes I’d made, and eventually helped me move past them."

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​Church Girls formed in 2014 as singer-songwriter Mariel Beaumont’s way to fill the creative void in her fashion career. Drawing from her punk roots attending dingy basement shows as a teen, she began writing and playing open mics around Philadelphia. An encounter with high school friend and guitarist Robert Dwyer led the two to begin collaborating and playing local and regional shows with a rotating cast of band members.

In 2016 the band became a full-time pursuit for Beaumont, as they self-released the 2016 album Thousand Lives, produced by Brian McTear (Dr. Dog, Marissa Nadler) and embarked on their first national tour. The album received local praise for its “introspective lyrics that complement pop melodies beautifully” (WXPN) and “smooth sincerity that navigates through moments of folk into straight out rockers” (The Deli).

Robert Dwyer (guitar), Will Schwartz (bass) and Zakary Iannitelli (drums) with Beaumont at the helm, release their debut LP Hidalgo in summer 2017. Hidalgo is a true collaboration — a shift in creative process for Beaumont — allowing the savvy of Dwyer, Schwartz and Iannitelli to radiate. ProducerErik Wofford (The Black Angels, Bill Callahan, Explosions in the Sky) brings a haunting, dreamy element to the Church Girls’ LP, with songs bound together by brooding lyrics, strong harmonies, and tight rhythms.

Church Girls is on a quest to tap into listeners’ emotional marrow by lyrically confessing a resistance to growing up, espousing a tendency towards self-destruction, showing the pains of communication, and celebrating the ways we work to become better humans a little at a time. These are anthems of authentic self-discovery.

Church Girls Hidalgo Track List
1. Better Off 
2. Glass
3. Breaking Bones
4. Deserve
5. Holding On
6. Rather Forget
7. Thoughts Fell
8. Mirror in Montreal
9. Pontificators
10. Regression
11. Three

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