Wouldn’t it be nice if healing was actually linear? On their brand-new fourth studio album, Straight Line Was A Lie, New Zealand power pop band The Beths tackle the “Roundabout” ways of navigating love, health and personal growth.
The anthemic title track starts the record off with the universal human experience of believing you’ve made some progress, just to find out you’re right back where you started. The sunny disposition of this catchy opener sets the tone for the rest of the album, which, save for some poignant quiet moments, chugs right along with high-energy jangle rock that’s personal but not too schmaltzy.
Straight Line Was A Lie’s album art was designed by Lily Paris West, who also created the cover for 2022’s Expert In A Dying Field. Its “wonky clock” imagery symbolizes not only the nonlinear timeline of healing, but also the mechanistic functions of the human body, a theme explored heavily in the lead single we’ve been spinning on Studio One, “Metal.”
Frontwoman and primary songwriter Elizabeth Stokes was dealing with a lot of medical issues when writing this album. “Metal” grapples with her Grave’s and thyroid eye disease diagnoses by likening the body’s systems to the operations of a machine. The upbeat demeanor of the track makes something like keeping yourself alive a much easier pill to swallow.
There’s been some recent changes to Stokes’ mental health as well. She’s experienced some dark places emotionally over the years, and while going on SSRIs has helped her healing journey, it's also given her a numb feeling that she describes on “No Joy.”
“Anhedonic on the daily / Wanna feel but I am failing,” Stokes laments on the pop punk-influenced tune. Tristan Deck’s driving drum line furthers the track’s annoyance with apathy.
Straight Line Was A Lie does a fantastic job of making the complicated road to self-improvement easy on the ears and fun to jam out to, but the softer moments on the album aren’t skips either. “Mosquitoes” introduces the listener to Stokes’ anhedonia in a Phoebe Bridgers-esque track where twinges of her Kiwi accent shine through. “Mother, Pray For Me” features solemn finger-picked electric guitar behind Stokes’ childlike lyrical desire for connection with her elders.
“It's not really about my mother, it's about me,” Stokes said in a press release. “What I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is and what I can or can't expect out of it.”
There are multiple songs on the album that remind the listener that, despite the many insecurities of growing up, life is definitely worth living. “Roundabout” is a celebration of love and a message of reassurance to a partner. “I loved you then / Like I love you now,” Stokes promises, “What will come / Is nothing to be scared about.”
Life is also lived to the fullest on “Til My Heart Stops” as Stokes evokes nostalgic, almost melancholic images of riding bikes in the rain and flying kites during hurricanes. “I wanna dance ‘til I drop / I wanna love ‘til my heart stops,” Stokes insists.
Straight Line Was A Lie closes on a new wave-inspired note with “Best Laid Plans,” a heartfelt climax of the record’s recurring theme of holding on tight for the unpredictable meandering of life. By this point, it’s clear that the album’s memorability is contingent on its paradoxicality — almost all of these songs are upbeat bangers about heavy, emotional topics. True to form, The Beths have combined relatable lyrics with an infectious power pop sound to create an undeniably exceptional listening experience.
Stokes’ poetry on this LP would not be as effective as it is without the jangly lead guitar of her writing partner, Jonathan Pearce, nor the energetic bass of their University of Auckland classmate Benjamin Sinclair, or the dynamic drumming of Deck, who joined forces with the band in 2019. The tight, punchy instrumentation and production make Straight Line Was A Lie an absolute earworm and some of the best music yet from a band that’s been delivering consistently solid music their entire career.
Straight Line Was A Lie is out this Friday on ANTI-Records.
