New Zealand indie rock favourites The Beths have today released their highly anticipated fourth studio album, Straight Line Was A Lie, via ANTI-.
The new record arrives off the back of two sold-out album launch shows in the United States earlier this week. In New York City, they played to a packed Bowery Ballroom crowd with comedian Marcia Belsky on support. On the West Coast, they brought their sound to Los Angeles’ Bob Baker Marionette Theatre, with comedy legend Margaret Cho opening the night.
Straight Line Was A Lie comes after a turbulent creative period for singer and songwriter Elizabeth Stokes. Following the international acclaim of their 2022 record Expert In A Dying Field, Stokes found herself hitting a creative wall. She had begun taking SSRIs, which helped her mental health but left her struggling to reconnect with her writing. While her phone filled with fragments of melodies and lyrics, complete songs weren’t coming as naturally as before.
Instead of forcing the process, Stokes and guitarist Jonathan Pearce restructured the band’s approach to songwriting. They dismantled the methods that had defined The Beths’ earlier records and opened up to a freer, more exploratory style. That decision has paid off: critics are already calling Straight Line Was A Lie the band’s most vulnerable, insightful, and lyrically daring work to date.
The record has been introduced through singles like “Metal”, “No Joy”, and “Mother, Pray For Me.” Each track showcases the duality that The Beths have mastered—bright, hook-heavy guitar pop wrapped around themes of anxiety, identity, and emotional struggle.
Brooklyn Vegan described Stokes as “a master of the crunchy, three-minute earworm that smooshes happy and sad together into a delicious pop PB&J.”
The New York Times spotlighted the emotional honesty of “Mother, Pray For Me,” while A.V. Club called the album “a more insightful, introspective album than anything the band has released in the past.”
The Beths are taking their new songs straight to fans worldwide. Beginning next month, they’ll tour the UK and Europe before heading to North America in October. The tour includes their biggest US shows yet, with headlining stops at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Salt Shed in Chicago, Brooklyn Paramount in New York City, Union Transfer in Philadelphia, and the iconic 9:30 Club in Washington, DC.
Formed in Auckland, New Zealand, The Beths emerged in the mid-2010s when Elizabeth Stokes (vocals, guitar), Jonathan Pearce (guitar), Benjamin Sinclair (bass), and Tristan Deck (drums) came together out of the city’s thriving DIY music scene.
The band first broke out internationally with their debut album Future Me Hates Me in 2018. The record introduced their signature sound—upbeat indie pop-rock laced with confessional lyrics. Songs like the title track and “Little Death” quickly gained them a cult following and heavy rotation on alternative radio worldwide.
They followed with Jump Rope Gazers in 2020, released at the height of the pandemic. More polished and expansive in sound, it demonstrated the band’s ability to balance punchy guitar pop with heartfelt balladry.
In 2022, The Beths reached a new career peak with Expert In A Dying Field. The album was a critical darling, topping numerous year-end lists, and it solidified the band as one of the most exciting voices in indie rock.
The Beths Discography
Future Me Hates Me (2018)
Jump Rope Gazers (2020)
Expert In A Dying Field (2022)
Straight Line Was A Lie (2025)
Straight Line Was A Lie Tracklisting
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
