THE BETHS’ SECOND ALBUM <em>JUMP ROPE GAZERS </em>RELEASED + TITLE TRACK & VIDEO REVEALED + DATES ADDED TO TOUR
Image Credit: Amanda Cheng
“The Beths make music that could easily be described as excitable — wiry and nervy and sparkling rock music that’s built around impeccable hooks and riffs and a constant sense of forward momentum.” - STEREOGUM
"The Beths have managed to create another overwhelmingly thrilling record. One in stunning communion with their debut but also distinctly its own creature." - THE LINE OF BEST FIT
"The Beths’ songwriting remains as exciting here as on Future Me Hates Me, absent of tongue-in-cheek cues and motifs, replaced by overarching frankness. With Jump Rope Gazers, The Beths add new layers to the sound they began establishing two years ago, and those layers are as touching as they are revealing." - PASTE
"Beneath the surface cuteness lies a reservoir of craft" - MOJO ****
The Beths today reveal their stunning sophomore album, Jump Rope Gazers in full - out now via Dew Process. To celebrate, the Auckland favourites have shared the title track ‘Jump Rope Gazers’, which premiered live this morning via their ‘Live From House’ livestream, alongside a gorgeous video in accompaniment.
Mellow in melody and emotive in its sentiment, Elizabeth Stokes says about the love song, “I've always dabbled in extreme sincerity, but always self consciously. I think there's nothing scarier than just using the words 'I love you' in a song. In a love song. I didn't manage it on our first album, but I guess I was ready for this one. The bass drum Tristan used for this one was a huge old modified marching bass drum. It’s the slowest tempo we have played, which gives us space to do things we wouldn’t normally be able to."
The accompanying video, directed by Sports Team (Annabel Kean and Callum Devlin) and shot at the Mangawhai Heads in New Zealand, features Stokes and bandmate Jonathan Pearce. “All the different landscapes were fifteen minutes walk from each other. I'd never seen sand dunes that big before, they were a beautiful dream. Walking up one was kind of like a nightmare though, they are so steep,” says Stokes. With Director Annabel Kean adding, “‘Jump Rope Gazers‘ is a total heart-breaker, huge feelings track, and it was clear from the first listen that Sports Team had to go bigger than ever to match the calibre. So, we shot a 5-minute sci-fi alien adventure romance."
The Beths marked their return in April this year with their rambunctious lead single ‘Dying To Believe’. On the single, The Beths reckon with the distance that life necessarily drives between people over time - a sensibility that is impossibly accurate in today’s climate. Wasting no time at all, they followed up with a second taste from the forthcoming record with ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ - a track that grapples with imposter syndrome. As Stokes puts it, “deep down there's a tiny Liz saying, ‘don't get excited.’ She is certain that anything good that could happen will most likely not happen, because of a freak accident. Or because somebody finally realises that we aren't worthy, shouts ‘phony!’ and takes everything away.” Their third single, ‘Out Of Sight’, is tender and shoegazing. It reckons with the distance that drives people apart and how those who love each other inevitably fail each other. The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel.
The Beths are Elizabeth Stokes (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Pearce (guitar), Benjamin Sinclair (bass), and Tristan Deck (drums). Jump Rope Gazers is the follow-up to Future Me Hates Me, “one of the most impressive indie-rock debuts of the year,” according to Pitchfork. The album received glowing praise and appeared on many year-end lists including Rolling Stone, NPR, Stereogum, and more.
Following the release of their critically-acclaimed debut album, The Beths devoted themselves to touring non-stop for a year and a half, playing to crowds of adoring fans and opening for acts like Pixies and Death Cab For Cutie throughout the US and Europe. In between intense touring stints, Elizabeth Stokes worked on what would become their second album. After a quick regroup the band settled down at Pearce’s Auckland studio to write and record Jump Rope Gazers with Pearce in the production hot seat.
Across its 10 tracks Jump Rope Gazers tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power-pop choruses and rousing backup vocals which collectively zero in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Touring far from home, The Beths committed to taking care of each other while simultaneously trying to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it.
Off the back of a sold out album release show at Auckland's Powerstation, the band have announced a huge run of headline dates across New Zealand, starting from August in addition to 2021 tour dates for the US, UK and Europe.
JUMP ROPE GAZERS OUT NOW
Watch ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ Video HERE
Watch ‘Out Of Sight’ Video HERE
Watch ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ Video HERE
Watch ‘Dying to Believe’ Video HERE
Watch ‘Live From House’ live stream HERE
THE BETHS TOUR DATES
*new dates in bold*
(tickets)
Sat. July 11 - Auckland, NZ @ Power Station (SOLD OUT)
Thu. Aug. 27 - Raglan, NZ @ Yot Club
Fri. Aug. 28 - Tauranga, NZ @ Totara Street
Sat. Aug. 29 - Napier, NZ @ Cabana
Thu. Sept. 3 - Palmerston North, NZ @ The Stomach
Fri. Sept. 4 - Wellington, NZ @ San Fran (SOLD OUT)
Sat. Sept. 5 - Wellington, NZ @ San Fran (NEW SHOW ADDED)
Tue. Sept. 8 - Nelson, NZ @ Playhouse
Wed. Sept. 9 - Takaka, NZ @ Mussel Inn
Thu. Sept. 10 - Blenheim, NZ @ Framingham Winery
Fri. Sept. 11 - Christchurch, NZ @ Blue Smoke
Sat. Sept. 12 - Dunedin, NZ @ Starters Bar
Sun. Sept. 13 - Invercargill, NZ @ Tuatara
Fri. Nov. 6 - Auckland, NZ @ Town Hall
Sat. Nov. 7 - Gisborne, NZ @ Gisborne Beer Festival
Sun. Nov 8 - Perth, WA @ HBF Park*
Wed. Nov. 11 - Melbourne, VIC @ Marvel Stadium*
Sat. Nov. 14 - Sydney, NSW @ Bankwest Stadium*
Tue. Nov. 17 - Brisbane, QLD @ QSAC Stadium*
Fri. Nov. 20 - Dunedin, NZ @ Forsyth Barr Stadium*
Sun. Nov. 22 - Auckland, NZ @ Mt Smart Stadium*
Tue. March 30 - Southampton, UK @ The Loft
Wed. March 31 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Thu. April 1 - Manchester, UK @ Club Academy
Fri. April 2 - Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
Sat. April 3 - Dublin, IE @ The Workman’s Club
Mon. April 5 - Bristol, UK @ SWX
Tue. April 6 - Birmingham, UK @ Castle and Falcon
Wed. April 7 - London, UK @ O2 Kentish Town
Thu. April 8 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Fri. April 9 - Paris, FR @ Point Éphémère
Sat. April 10 - Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare - Hors les murs
Sun. April 11 - Milan, IT @ BIKO
Tue. April. 13 - Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Wed. April 14 - Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie
Thu. April 15 - Munich, DE @ Kranhalle
Fri. April 16 - Vienna, AT @ B72
Sat. April 17 - Prague, CZ @ Underdogs' Ballroom
Sun. April 18 - Belin, DE @ Lido
Tue. April 20 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Ideal Bar
Wed. April 21 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Thu. April 22 - Cologne, DE @ Artheater
Fri. April 23 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
Sun. April 25 - Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
Fri. Aug 6-8 - San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands
*w/ Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy