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 band announced 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.

Hello Mary also 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. This Is Pop? today’s song of the day is here for you.