The Beths Sign to ANTI-, Drop New Song ‘Metal’

The Beths – the New Zealand-based band composed of vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck – have signed to ANTI-. Today’s announcement comes paired with a new single, ‘Metal’. Check out the video for it below, and scroll down for the quartet’s upcoming tour dates.

While writing ‘Metal’, Stokes was processing the effects of rigorous touring, mental health struggles, and several diagnoses. “In some ways ‘Metal’ is a song about being alive and existing in a human body,” she reflected. “That is something I have been acutely aware of in the last few years, where I have been on what one might call a ‘health journey’. For parts of the last few years, I kind of felt like my body was a vehicle that had carried me pretty well thus far but was breaking down, something I had little to no control over. All of the steps in the Rube Goldberg machine of life are so unlikely, and yet here we are in it. I have a hunger and a curiosity for learning about the world around me, and for learning about myself. And despite all the ways that my body feels like a broken machine, I still marvel at the complexity of such a machine.”

“I can hold that knowledge in one hand, and yet with the other hand I can point to my reflection and just be like ‘you are shit’. Or ‘ugly’,” Stokes added. “Or ‘worthless’. I can reliably respond to any suggestion that I might be able to achieve any small thing with ‘no’. And these are variations of the ‘short word’ referenced in the song.”

Musically, the song is driving and jangly. “There was a propulsion to the acoustic strumming pattern on the original demo,” Stokes explained. “Tristan’s drums meet that feeling so perfectly, the feeling of a train pushing up the tracks. Jonathan got to play his Burns 12 string guitar as sparkly as he wanted, and Ben as usual can’t be contained to the lower register. I think we ended up with an arrangement that embodies the frenetic intricacy of an engine in action. There’s a lot going on, until there isn’t.”

‘Metal’ marks the Beths’ first new music since the 2023 deluxe edition of their latest album, Expert in a Dying Field. Revisit our interview with the Beths.

The Beths 2025 Tour Dates:

Thu Sep 18 – Dublin, IE – Button Factory
Sat Sep 20 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall
Sun Sep 21 – Glasgow, UK – SWG3 TV Studio
Mon Sep 22 – Leeds, UK – Project House
Wed Sep 24 – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy
Thu Sep 25 – Birmingham, UK – XOYO
Fri Sep 26 – London, UK – Roundhouse
Sat Sep 27 – Brighton, UK – CHALK
Mon Sep 29 – Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix
Tue Sep 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 – Krust
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 *
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 *