The Beths have finally revealed that a brand new album is arriving August 29, and it’s called Straight Line Was a Lie.
This record, which is their first with Anti-, comes after three years, and they’ve already dropped a song from it called “No Joy.” Elizabeth Stokes wrote “No Joy” while figuring out what it felt like to start taking an SSRI, and the video for the track is out now for everyone to see.
Stokes said, “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.” She also mentioned that the song is about anhedonia, which is when you can’t feel joy, and that this feeling stuck around both during tough times with depression and even when things seemed okay on medication.
Most of the album was written while the band was in Los Angeles, but they recorded it back home in Auckland. The album’s name comes from the idea that life doesn’t really move in a straight line, and Stokes thinks it’s all about finding meaning in the ups and downs along the way.
Fans sometimes wonder if making music helps artists feel better, or if it just makes things more complicated.
Later this year, the Beths are heading out on a big tour with shows in the UK, Europe, Canada, and the US. Some concerts will have Illuminati Hotties, Squirrel Flower, Bret McKenzie, Phoebe Rings, or Dateline opening for them.
Here’s the tracklist for Straight Line Was a Lie:
01 Straight Line Was a Lie
02 Mosquitoes
03 No Joy
04 Metal
05 Mother, Pray for Me
06 Til My Heart Stops
07 Take
08 Roundabout
09 Ark of the Covenant
10 Best Laid Plans
