New Zealand alt-rock band The Beths return with new album in August; U.S. tour starts in October

This band was one of my favorites at Coachella '24. Looking forward to the new album...

The Beths — the New Zealand-based quartet of vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck — announce their new album, Straight Line Was A Lie—their first for their new label ANTI—out August 29. They have unveiled new single/video, “No Joy.” 

The path from The Beths’ critically celebrated and year-end-list-topping 2022 album Expert In A Dying Field to Straight Line Was A Lie was anything but straightforward. For the first time, Stokes was struggling to write new songs beyond fragments she’d recorded on her phone. She’d recently started taking an SSRI, which on one hand made her feel like she could “fix” everything broken in her life, from her mental and physical health to fraught family dynamics. At the same time, writing wasn’t coming as easily as it had before.

“I was kind of dealing with a new brain, and I feel like I write very instinctually,” she says. “It was kind of like my instincts were just a little different, they weren't as panicky.”

While Stokes felt a huge relief from taking an SSRI, she articulates the emotional trade-offs on “No Joy.” 

"It's about anhedonia, which, paradoxically, was there both in the worst parts of depression, and then also when I was feeling pretty numb on my SSRI,” Stokes says. “It wasn't that I was sad, I was feeling pretty good. It was just that I didn't like the things that I liked. I wasn't getting joy from them. It's very literal.”

Watch the Video for “No Joy”

Pre-Order Straight Line Was A Lie

Watch the Video for “Metal”

Track listing:

Straight Line Was A Lie

Mosquitoes
No Joy
Metal
Mother, Pray For Me
Til My Heart Stops
Take
Roundabout
Ark Of The Covenant
Best Laid Plans

North American Tour Dates:

Thu. Oct. 30 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel*

Fri. Oct. 31 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
Sat. Nov 1 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl *
Mon. Nov. 3 - Dallas, TX @ The Studio At The Bomb Factory *
Tue. Nov. 4 - Austin, TX @ Emo's *
Thu. Nov. 6 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren *
Fri. Nov. 7 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern * ^
Sat. Nov. 8 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore * [SOLD OUT]
Sun. Nov. 9 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
Wed. Nov. 12 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades *
Fri. Nov. 14 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
Sat. Nov. 15 - Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre *
Sun. Nov. 16 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom *
Tue. Nov. 18 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall *
Wed. Nov. 19 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre *
Fri. Nov. 21 - Kansas City, MO @ The Truman *
Sat. Nov. 22 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre *
Sun. Nov. 23 - Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed (Indoor) * +
Tue. Nov 25 - Cleveland, OH @ Globe Iron *
Wed. Nov. 26 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre *
Fri. Nov. 27 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall *
Fri. Nov. 28 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall * [SOLD OUT]
Sat. Nov. 29 - Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre *
Mon. Dec. 1 - Boston, MA @ Royale *
Tue. Dec. 2 - Boston, MA @ Royale * [SOLD OUT]
Wed. Dec. 3 - Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall *
Fri. Dec. 5 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount * #
Sat. Dec. 6 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer * [SOLD OUT]
Sun. Dec. 7 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
Tue. Dec. 9 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club * [SOLD OUT]
Wed. Dec. 10 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club * [SOLD OUT]

! w/ Dateline
* w/ Phoebe Rings
^ w/ Bret McKenzie
+ w/ Squirrel Flower
# w/ illuminati hotties