The Beths – the New Zealand-based quartet of vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck – today have announced that they have signed to ANTI- and have released a brand new single/video, ‘Metal’. Watch the video HERE and purchase on Bandcamp HERE. ‘Metal’ is the first taste of new music from the band since the release of 2023’s ‘Expert In A Dying Field (Deluxe)’, the expanded version of their beloved 2022 album.
Following Liz Stokes’s recent, sold–out solo show at Largo in Los Angeles with special guests Courtney Barnett and Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords), The Beths announce a world tour across North America, the UK and Europe this Autumn. Tickets go on sale Friday 2nd May at 10am local and are available HERE.
Today’s single ‘Metal’ was born out of a time of rigorous touring, mental health struggles, and several diagnoses for Stokes. “In some ways ‘Metal’ is a song about being alive and existing in a human body,” she explains. “That is something I have been acutely aware of in the last few years, where I have been on what one might call a ‘health journey’. For parts of the last few years, I kind of felt like my body was a vehicle that had carried me pretty well thus far but was breaking down, something I had little to no control over. All of the steps in the Rube Goldberg machine of life are so unlikely, and yet here we are in it. I have a hunger and a curiosity for learning about the world around me, and for learning about myself. And despite all the ways that my body feels like a broken machine, I still marvel at the complexity of such a machine.”
“I can hold that knowledge in one hand, and yet with the other hand I can point to my reflection and just be like ‘you are shit’. Or ‘ugly’. Or ‘worthless’. I can reliably respond to any suggestion that I might be able to achieve any small thing with ‘no’. And these are variations of the ‘short word’ referenced in the song.”
Sonically, the track sees The Beths fully embracing jangle rock. Stokes says, “There was a propulsion to the acoustic strumming pattern on the original demo. Tristan’s drums meet that feeling so perfectly, the feeling of a train pushing up the tracks. Jonathan got to play his Burns 12 string guitar as sparkly as he wanted, and Ben as usual can’t be contained to the lower register. I think we ended up with an arrangement that embodies the frenetic intricacy of an engine in action. There’s a lot going on, until there isn’t.”
2023’s ‘Expert In A Dying Field (Deluxe)’ expanded upon the brilliance of The Beths’ acclaimed 2022 album, “another collection of tunes that cements their status as one of the great guitar-pop bands of this present moment” (Stereogum). The third studio album from The Beths, ‘Expert In A Dying Field’ was released to a wealth of critical praise, and was named one of 2022’s best releases by the likes of Pitchfork, The Ringer, Stereogum, Our Culture and more. Surrounding its release, The Beths were profiled by Rolling Stone, made their U.S. television debut on CBS Saturday Morning, and performed a NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, The Beths are undeniably one of the most exciting indie rock bands to emerge in recent memory.
The Beths UK Tour Dates (full dates on flyer below):
Thu. Sept. 18 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Sat. Sept. 20 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Sun. Sept. 21 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 TV Studio
Mon. Sept. 22 – Leeds, UK @ Project House
Wed. Sept. 24 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
Thu. Sept. 25 – Birmingham, UK @ XOYO
Fri. Sept. 26 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
Sat. Sept. 27 – Brighton, UK @ CHALK
Tickets for the Brighton concert at Chalk can be purchased HERE from Friday 2nd May at 10am.
