{"title":"Music","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"signed-warm-blood-ep","title":"[SIGNED] Warm Blood EP","description":"\u003cp\u003eTrack listing:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhatever\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWarm Blood\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIdea\/Intent\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRush Hour 3\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLying in the Sun\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eThis product ships from our UK fulfillment center only. Please note that\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eincreased\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e shipping and customs fees may apply if you are ordering from another country. Thank you!\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Beths - UK","offers":[{"title":"Custard","offer_id":44677394301014,"sku":"BETHUK-305181","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/BETHS_WarmBlood_Signed.png?v=1778247802"},{"product_id":"the-beths-auckland-new-zealand-2020-cd","title":"The Beths: Auckland, New Zealand 2020 CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e1. I'm Not Getting Excited - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n2. Great No One - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n3. Whatever - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n4. Mars, the God of War - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n5. Future Me Hates Me - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n6. introduction\u003cbr\u003e\r\n7. Jump Rope Gazers - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n8. Uptown Girl - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n9. bird talk\u003cbr\u003e\r\n10. Happy Unhappy - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n11. Out of Sight - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n12. thank you\u003cbr\u003e\r\n13. Don't Go Away - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n14. Little Death - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n15. Dying to Believe - Live\u003cbr\u003e\r\n16. River Run - Live\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eDescription:\u003cbr\u003e\r\nThe anticipation is there in Elizabeth Stokes’ solo guitar riff under the opening lines of “I’m Not Getting Excited”: a frenetic, driving force daring a packed Auckland Town Hall to do exactly the opposite of what the track title suggests.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAs the opener of The Beths’ Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 expands to include the full band, the crowd screeches and bellows. It’s a collective exhalation, in one of the few countries where live music is still possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe album title, and film of the same name, deliberately include the date and location, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce says. “That’s the sensational part of what we actually did.” In a mid-pandemic world, playing to a heaving, enraptured home crowd feels miraculous.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn March 2020, everything seemed on track for another huge year for The Beths. Home after an 18-month northern hemisphere tour, they had just finished recording sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers and were primed for more extensive touring. But within days, New Zealand’s lockdown split the band between three separate houses. All touring was cancelled.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“It was existentially bad,” Stokes says. As well as worrying about economic survival, they lost something crucial to the band’s identity: live performance. “It's a huge part of how we see ourselves... What does it mean, if we can't play live?”\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe band found an outlet through live-streaming, returning to the do-it-yourself mentality of their early days to connect with a global audience. The album and film have their genesis in that urge to share the now-rare experience of a live show, as widely as possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eThe fuzzy-round-the-edges live-streams pointed the way aesthetically. Native birds, wonkily crafted by the band from tissue paper and wire, festoon the venue’s cavernous ceiling while house plants soften and disguise the imposing pipes of an organ. The presence of the film crew isn’t disguised: much of the camerawork is handheld; full of fast zooms and pans.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eWith much of the material still fresh, the band was less focused on re-invention than playing “a good, fast rock show”, Pearce says. The tempo is up on crowd favourites “Whatever” and “Future Me Hates Me” (released as a live single on its third anniversary) as both band and audience feed off the mutual energy in the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eCertain songs have taken on special resonance post-Covid. Pearce has found “Out Of Sight”, a tender rumination on long-distance relationships, hits particularly hard with live audiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eAlbum closer “River Run” visibly brings Stokes to tears as a mix of achievement and relief kicks in. “You can finally relax at that point … You play the last note, breathe out a sigh and look up - and you’re in a giant room full of people happy and smiling.”\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n","brand":"The Beths - UK","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44677395349590,"sku":"BETHUK-305148","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/ANZ2020_CDmock_4f3654bf-f4f7-4836-af10-5480e2efd68b.png?v=1782930473"},{"product_id":"black-straight-line-was-a-lie-vinyl-lp-1","title":"Straight Line Was A Lie Vinyl LP","description":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStraight Line Was A Lie\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMosquitoes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo Joy\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMetal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMother, Pray For Me\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTil My Heart Stops\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTake\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRoundabout\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArk Of The Covenant\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBest Laid Plans\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e*\u003cem\u003eGummy Shark Blue is a UK\/EU Exclusive\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003eThe Beths know the futility of straight lines. Existential vertigo serves as the primary theme on the New Zealand indie heroes’ fourth album \u003c\/span\u003eStraight Line Was A Lie \u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003e(their first for new label ANTI-). The Beths posit that the only way round is through; that even after going through difficult, transformative experiences, you can still feel as though you've ended up in the same place. It's a bewildering thing, realising that life and personal growth are cyclical and continual. That a chapter doesn’t always end with peace and acceptance. That the approach is simply continuing to try, to show up. “Linear progression is an illusion,” lead singer and songwriter Elizabeth Stokes says of the album, whose artwork by Lily Paris West (returning from designing 2022’s \u003c\/span\u003eExpert In A Dying Field\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003e) portrays a loopy, surrealist analog clock. “What life really is is maintenance, and finding meaning in the maintenance.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Beths","offers":[{"title":"Black","offer_id":44971258216534,"sku":"BETH-278177","price":24.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Gummy Shark Blue","offer_id":44971258249302,"sku":"BETH-308704","price":24.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/BETHS_StraightLineBlueTanLP.png?v=1781712980"},{"product_id":"blem-straight-line-was-a-lie-vinyl-lp-black","title":"[BLEM] Straight Line Was A Lie Vinyl LP","description":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStraight Line Was A Lie\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMosquitoes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo Joy\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMetal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMother, Pray For Me\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTil My Heart Stops\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTake\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRoundabout\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArk Of The Covenant\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBest Laid Plans\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Beths know the futility of straight lines. Existential vertigo serves as the primary theme on the New Zealand indie heroes’ fourth album Straight Line Was A Lie (their first for new label ANTI-). The Beths posit that the only way round is through; that even after going through difficult, transformative experiences, you can still feel as though you've ended up in the same place. It's a bewildering thing, realising that life and personal growth are cyclical and continual. That a chapter doesn’t always end with peace and acceptance. That the approach is simply continuing to try, to show up. “Linear progression is an illusion,” lead singer and songwriter Elizabeth Stokes says of the album, whose artwork by Lily Paris West (returning from designing 2022’s Expert In A Dying Field) portrays a loopy, surrealist analog clock. “What life really is is maintenance, and finding meaning in the maintenance.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThese LPs have been flagged as having minor to moderate cosmetic damage to the cover, hence the discount on price. The blemishes most often are simply corner dents to the packaging, from shipping. The playability of the record itself is not compromised. However, there are no returns accepted on this product.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Beths - EU","offers":[{"title":"Black","offer_id":44981302296662,"sku":"BETHEU-306956","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Gummy Shark Blue","offer_id":44981302329430,"sku":"BETHEU-306957","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/TheBeths_Black_f747ce1d-a115-4f44-ba9d-407f01d1cf17.png?v=1781883421"},{"product_id":"the-beths-auckland-new-zealand-2020-2xlp-1","title":"The Beths: Auckland, New Zealand 2020 2XLP","description":"\u003cp\u003e1. I'm Not Getting Excited - Live\u003cbr\u003e2. Great No One - Live\u003cbr\u003e3. Whatever - Live\u003cbr\u003e4. Mars, the God of War - Live\u003cbr\u003e5. Future Me Hates Me - Live\u003cbr\u003e6. introduction\u003cbr\u003e7. Jump Rope Gazers - Live\u003cbr\u003e8. Uptown Girl - Live\u003cbr\u003e9. bird talk\u003cbr\u003e10. Happy Unhappy - Live\u003cbr\u003e11. Out of Sight - Live\u003cbr\u003e12. thank you\u003cbr\u003e13. Don't Go Away - Live\u003cbr\u003e14. Little Death - Live\u003cbr\u003e15. Dying to Believe - Live\u003cbr\u003e16. River Run - Live\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDouble LP, housed in a gatefold jacket\u003cbr\u003eDescription:\u003cbr\u003eThe anticipation is there in Elizabeth Stokes’ solo guitar riff under the opening lines of “I’m Not Getting Excited”: a frenetic, driving force daring a packed Auckland Town Hall to do exactly the opposite of what the track title suggests.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the opener of The Beths’ Auckland, New Zealand, 2020 expands to include the full band, the crowd screeches and bellows. It’s a collective exhalation, in one of the few countries where live music is still possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album title, and film of the same name, deliberately include the date and location, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce says. “That’s the sensational part of what we actually did.” In a mid-pandemic world, playing to a heaving, enraptured home crowd feels miraculous.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn March 2020, everything seemed on track for another huge year for The Beths. Home after an 18-month northern hemisphere tour, they had just finished recording sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers and were primed for more extensive touring. But within days, New Zealand’s lockdown split the band between three separate houses. All touring was cancelled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It was existentially bad,” Stokes says. As well as worrying about economic survival, they lost something crucial to the band’s identity: live performance. “It's a huge part of how we see ourselves... What does it mean, if we can't play live?”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe band found an outlet through live-streaming, returning to the do-it-yourself mentality of their early days to connect with a global audience. The album and film have their genesis in that urge to share the now-rare experience of a live show, as widely as possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fuzzy-round-the-edges live-streams pointed the way aesthetically. Native birds, wonkily crafted by the band from tissue paper and wire, festoon the venue’s cavernous ceiling while house plants soften and disguise the imposing pipes of an organ. The presence of the film crew isn’t disguised: much of the camerawork is handheld; full of fast zooms and pans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith much of the material still fresh, the band was less focused on re-invention than playing “a good, fast rock show”, Pearce says. The tempo is up on crowd favourites “Whatever” and “Future Me Hates Me” (released as a live single on its third anniversary) as both band and audience feed off the mutual energy in the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCertain songs have taken on special resonance post-Covid. Pearce has found “Out Of Sight”, a tender rumination on long-distance relationships, hits particularly hard with live audiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlbum closer “River Run” visibly brings Stokes to tears as a mix of achievement and relief kicks in. “You can finally relax at that point … You play the last note, breathe out a sigh and look up - and you’re in a giant room full of people happy and smiling.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carpark Records","offers":[{"title":"Emerald","offer_id":44798210965590,"sku":"CAR-271036","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hot Pink","offer_id":44968211775574,"sku":"CAR-308701","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/BETHS_AucklandGreenLP.png?v=1781710636"},{"product_id":"straight-line-was-a-lie-cd","title":"Straight Line Was A Lie CD","description":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStraight Line Was A Lie\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMosquitoes\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo Joy\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMetal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMother, Pray For Me\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTil My Heart Stops\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTake\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRoundabout\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArk Of The Covenant\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBest Laid Plans\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003eThe Beths know the futility of straight lines. Existential vertigo serves as the primary theme on the New Zealand indie heroes’ fourth album \u003c\/span\u003eStraight Line Was A Lie \u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003e(their first for new label ANTI-). The Beths posit that the only way round is through; that even after going through difficult, transformative experiences, you can still feel as though you've ended up in the same place. It's a bewildering thing, realising that life and personal growth are cyclical and continual. That a chapter doesn’t always end with peace and acceptance. That the approach is simply continuing to try, to show up. “Linear progression is an illusion,” lead singer and songwriter Elizabeth Stokes says of the album, whose artwork by Lily Paris West (returning from designing 2022’s \u003c\/span\u003eExpert In A Dying Field\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003e) portrays a loopy, surrealist analog clock. “What life really is is maintenance, and finding meaning in the maintenance.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Beths","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44798330470486,"sku":"BETH-278175","price":13.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/TheBeths_CD.png?v=1781649838"},{"product_id":"future-me-hates-me-vinyl-lp","title":"Future Me Hates Me Vinyl LP","description":"\u003cp\u003eTrack listing:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGreat No One\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFuture Me Hates Me\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUptown Girl\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYou Wouldn't Like Me\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNot Running\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLittle Death\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHappy Unhappy\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRiver Run: Lvl 1\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhatever\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLess Than Thou\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew Zealand four-piece The Beths channel their friendship into high-energy guitar pop with a smart lyrical bite. 2018 was their breakout year, beginning with signing to Carpark Records and Dew Process, before releasing the internationally acclaimed debut album Future Me Hates Me, which was heralded as one the stand-out music releases of that year. The Beths have toured relentlessly on the back of Future Me Hates Me, getting audiences hooked on their ebullient sound. After selling out shows across Australia, New Zealand, North America, the UK and Europe in 2018, the band are proving to be one of the most in-demand live acts on the planet.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Beths","offers":[{"title":"Blood and Water","offer_id":44806702366806,"sku":"BETH-302511","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/BETHS_FMHM_Updated.png?v=1781649930"},{"product_id":"expert-in-a-dying-field-vinyl-lp","title":"Expert In A Dying Field Vinyl LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e1 Expert In A Dying Field\u003cbr\u003e2 Knees Deep\u003cbr\u003e3 Silence Is Golden\u003cbr\u003e4 Your Side\u003cbr\u003e5 I Want To Listen\u003cbr\u003e6 Head In The Clouds\u003cbr\u003e7 Best Left\u003cbr\u003e8 Change In The Weather\u003cbr\u003e9 When You Know You Know\u003cbr\u003e10 A Passing Rain\u003cbr\u003e11 I Told You That I Was Afraid\u003cbr\u003e12 2am\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIncludes 24”x24” poster and digital download card\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn The Beths’ new album Expert In A Dying Field, Elizabeth Stokes’ songwriting positions her somewhere between being a novelist and a documentarian. The songs collected here are autobiographical, but they’re also character sketches of relationships – platonic, familial, romantic – and more importantly, their aftermaths. The shapes and ghosts left in absences. The question that hangs in the air: what do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe third LP from the New Zealand quartet houses 12 jewels of tight, guitar-heavy songs that worm their way into your head, an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz. With Expert, The Beths wanted to make an album meant to be experienced live, for both the listeners and themselves. They wanted it to be fun -- to hear, to play -- in spite of the prickling anxiety throughout the lyrics, the fear of change and struggle to cope.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost of Expert was recorded at guitarist Jonathan Pearce’s studio on Karangahape Road in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand) -- and sometimes in the building's cavernous stairwell at 1am -- toward the end of 2021, until they were interrupted by a four-month national lockdown. They traded notes remotely for months, songwriting from afar and fleshing out the arrangements alone, the first time they’d written together in such a way. The following February, The Beths left the country for the first time in more than two years to tour across the US, and simultaneously finish mixing the album on the road. That latter half felt more collaborative, with everyone on-hand to trade notes in real time, until it all culminated in a chaotic three-day studio mad-dash in Los Angeles. There, Expert finally became the record they were hearing in their heads.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExpert is an extension of the same skuzzy palette the band has built across their catalog, pop hooks embedded in incisive indie rock. The album’s title track “Expert In A Dying Field” introduces the thesis for the record: “How does it feel to be an expert in a dying field? How do you know it’s over when you can’t let go?” Stokes asks. “Love is learned over time ‘til you’re an expert in a dying field.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe rest is a capsule of The Beths’ most electrifying and exciting output, a sonic spectrum: “Your Side” is a forlorn and sincere love song, emotive; while “Silence is Golden,” with its propulsive drum line and stop-start staccato of a guitar line winding up and down, is one of the band’s sharpest and most driving. “When You Know You Know” skews a bit groovier, pure pop and a natural addition to the band’s live set. “Knees Deep” was written last minute, but yields one of the best guitar lines on Expert. There’s a certain chaos across the 12 tracks, the palpable joy of playing music with long-time friends colliding with the raw nerves of pain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStokes strings it all together through her singular songwriting lens, earnest and self-effacing, zeroing in on the granules of doubt and how they snowball. Did I do the wrong thing? Or did you? And are we still good people at the end of it? She isn’t interested in villains, but instead interested in just telling the story. That insecurity and thoughtfulness, translated into universality and understanding, has been the guiding light of The Beths’ output since 2016. In the face of pain, there’s no dwelling on internal anguish - instead, through The Beths’ music, our shortcomings are met with acceptance. And Expert In A Dying Field is the most tactile that tenderness has been.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Beths","offers":[{"title":"Head in the Clouds","offer_id":44806714130518,"sku":"BETH-298493","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/TheBeths_EIADF_LP_BLUE_ECO.png?v=1780498753"},{"product_id":"expert-in-a-dying-field-cd","title":"Expert In A Dying Field CD","description":"\u003cp\u003e1 Expert In A Dying Field\u003cbr\u003e2 Knees Deep\u003cbr\u003e3 Silence Is Golden\u003cbr\u003e4 Your Side\u003cbr\u003e5 I Want To Listen\u003cbr\u003e6 Head In The Clouds\u003cbr\u003e7 Best Left\u003cbr\u003e8 Change In The Weather\u003cbr\u003e9 When You Know You Know\u003cbr\u003e10 A Passing Rain\u003cbr\u003e11 I Told You That I Was Afraid\u003cbr\u003e12 2am\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn The Beths’ new album Expert In A Dying Field, Elizabeth Stokes’ songwriting positions her somewhere between being a novelist and a documentarian. The songs collected here are autobiographical, but they’re also character sketches of relationships – platonic, familial, romantic – and more importantly, their aftermaths. The shapes and ghosts left in absences. The question that hangs in the air: what do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe third album from the New Zealand quartet houses 12 jewels of tight, guitar-heavy songs that worm their way into your head, an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz. With Expert, The Beths wanted to make an album meant to be experienced live, for both the listeners and themselves. They wanted it to be fun -- to hear, to play -- in spite of the prickling anxiety throughout the lyrics, the fear of change and struggle to cope.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost of Expert was recorded at guitarist Jonathan Pearce’s studio on Karangahape Road in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand) -- and sometimes in the building's cavernous stairwell at 1am -- toward the end of 2021, until they were interrupted by a four-month national lockdown. They traded notes remotely for months, songwriting from afar and fleshing out the arrangements alone, the first time they’d written together in such a way. The following February, The Beths left the country for the first time in more than two years to tour across the US, and simultaneously finish mixing the album on the road. That latter half felt more collaborative, with everyone on-hand to trade notes in real time, until it all culminated in a chaotic three-day studio mad-dash in Los Angeles. There, Expert finally became the record they were hearing in their heads.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExpert is an extension of the same skuzzy palette the band has built across their catalog, pop hooks embedded in incisive indie rock. The album’s title track “Expert In A Dying Field” introduces the thesis for the record: “How does it feel to be an expert in a dying field? How do you know it’s over when you can’t let go?” Stokes asks. “Love is learned over time ‘til you’re an expert in a dying field.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe rest is a capsule of The Beths’ most electrifying and exciting output, a sonic spectrum: “Your Side” is a forlorn and sincere love song, emotive; while “Silence is Golden,” with its propulsive drum line and stop-start staccato of a guitar line winding up and down, is one of the band’s sharpest and most driving. “When You Know You Know” skews a bit groovier, pure pop and a natural addition to the band’s live set. “Knees Deep” was written last minute, but yields one of the best guitar lines on Expert. There’s a certain chaos across the 12 tracks, the palpable joy of playing music with long-time friends colliding with the raw nerves of pain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStokes strings it all together through her singular songwriting lens, earnest and self-effacing, zeroing in on the granules of doubt and how they snowball. Did I do the wrong thing? Or did you? And are we still good people at the end of it? She isn’t interested in villains, but instead interested in just telling the story. That insecurity and thoughtfulness, translated into universality and understanding, has been the guiding light of The Beths’ output since 2016. In the face of pain, there’s no dwelling on internal anguish - instead, through The Beths’ music, our shortcomings are met with acceptance. And Expert In A Dying Field is the most tactile that tenderness has been.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Beths","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44806862340182,"sku":"BETH-204792","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/3724\/1942\/files\/EIADF_CDmock.png?v=1780514496"}],"url":"https:\/\/the-beths-store.myshopify.com\/collections\/music.oembed","provider":"The Beths","version":"1.0","type":"link"}