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Jun 24, 2025 By Issa Nasatir Photography by Frances Carter

The Beths have announced their new album, Straight Line Was a Lie, and shared a video for its new single, “No Joy.” Straight Line Was a Lie is slated to release August 29th via ANTI-. Check out the album’s artwork and the video for the new single below.

The Beths are the New Zealand-based quartet of vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck.

They previously shared the album’s first single “Metal” which was one of our Songs of the Week. They released their last full-length Expert in a Dying Field in 2022. Straight Line Was a Lie will also be their first release since signing to their new label ANTI-.

Stokes spoke on the meaning behind “No Joy” in a press release. “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,” she 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.”

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

To counter this, she decided to sit down in front of a typewriter gifted to her by the band’s bassist Benjamin Sinclair and sat down to write at least 10 pages everyday.

“Writing so much down forced me to look at stuff that I didn’t want to look at,” Stokes says. “In the past, in my memories. Things I normally don’t like to think about or I’m scared to revisit, I’m putting them down on paper and thinking about them, addressing them.”

She adds: “Linear progression is an illusion. What life really is is maintenance. But you can find meaning in the maintenance.”

Expert in a Dying Field was one of our Top 100 Albums of 2022.

Read our The End interview with The Beths.

Read our interview with The Beths on Jump Rope Gazers.

Read our My Firsts interview with The Beths.

The Beths Tour Dates:

Wed. Sept. 17 - Dublin, IE @ Button Factory !

Thu. Sept. 18 - Dublin, IE @ Button Factory ! [SOLD OUT]

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 !

Mon. Sept. 29 - Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix !

Tue. Sept. 30 - Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo !

Wed. Oct. 1 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique !

Fri. Oct. 3 - Cologne, DE @ Kantine !

Sat. Oct. 4 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso !

Sun. Oct. 5 - Hamburg, DE @ Knust !

Tue. Oct. 7 - Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan !

Wed. Oct. 8 Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene !

Thu. Oct. 9 - Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset !

Sat. Oct. 11 - Berlin, DE @ Lido !

Sun. Oct. 12 - Munich, DE @ Strom !

Mon. Oct. 13 - Zurich, CH @ Plaza !

Wed. Oct. 15 - Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz 2 !

Thu. Oct. 16 - Madrid, ES @ Nazca !

Fri. Oct. 17 - Lisbon, PT @ LAV !

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

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