When The Beths released "Silence is Golden" last month, we noted that it was their most rock song to date. On their latest, "Expert in a Dying Field," the New Zealand band get quite a bit quieter. This new song stops short of being a power ballad, but just barely. There is still plenty of crunching guitars and noise to keep this from being a pure pop song, but "Expert in a Dying Field" has far more harmony for it to be pure indie rock. It's filled with plenty of reverb and crashing drums, but this is a gorgeous song. It's rare for a song to be this delicate but yet still rock this hard, but The Beths somehow pull this off.
Elizabeth Stokes says of the new song:
"I really do believe that love is learned over time. In the course of knowing a person you accumulate so much information: their favorite movies, how they take their tea, how to make them laugh, how that makes you feel. And when relationships between people change, or end, all that knowledge doesn’t just disappear. The phrase ‘Expert in a Dying Field’ had been floating around my head for a few years, I was glad to finally capture it when writing this tune.”
You can watch the video for "Expert in a Dying Field" below. Expert in a Dying Field, the album, is due out September 16 on Carpark Records and can be pre-ordered here. For more on The Beths, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour date are below the video.
Sun. Jul. 24 - Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
Mon. Jul. 25 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Fri. Jul. 29 - Brooklyn, NY @ BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival
Sun. Jul. 31 - Denver, CO @ UMS - The Underground Music Showcase
Tue. Aug. 2 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Wed. Aug. 3 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
Thu. Aug. 4 - Santa Barbara, CA @ SoHo Restaurant & Music Club
Fri. Aug. 5 - San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Music Festival
Sun. Aug. 7 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Wed. Aug. 10 - Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Thu. Aug. 11 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Sat. Aug. 13 - North Adams, MA @ Here and There Festival, Mass MoCA
Sun. Aug. 14 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
Mon. Aug. 15 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag
Tue. Aug. 16 - Chicago, IL @ Here and There Festival, Salt Shed
Thu. Aug. 18 - St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill
Fri. Aug. 19 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
Sat. Aug. 20 - Covington, KY (Cincinnati) @ Madison Live
Mon. Aug. 22 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
Tue. Aug. 23 - Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry
Thu. Aug. 25 - Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Fri. Aug. 26 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
Sat. Aug. 27 - Portland, ME @ Portland House of Music & Events
Sun. Aug. 28 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
Wed. Aug. 31 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall
Thu. Sep. 1 - Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
Thu. Sep. 15 - Melbourne, AU @ 170 Russell
Fri. Sep. 16 - Sydney, AU @ Metro Theatre
Sat. Sep. 17 - Brisbane, AU @ The Triffid
Tue. Sep. 20 - Adelaide, AU @ The Gov
Wed. Sep. 21 - Perth, AU @ Magnet House
Fri. Sep. 23 - Wellington, NZ @ Opera House
Sat. Sep. 24 - Nelson, NZ @ Theatre Royal
Fri. Sep. 30 - Christchurch, NZ @ James Hay Theatre
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