Latest news with #TheBeths
Scoop
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Aotearoa's Pickle Darling Shares New Single On U.S. Label Father/Daughter Records
There's always been something ineffably tender about Pickle Darling 's music - an off-kilter ache, a half-buried memory, a melody that insists on being felt before it can be understood. With ' Massive Everything,' their first original music since a gorgeously unguarded Postal Service cover alongside The Beths in 2023, the Ōtautahi/Christchurch-based songwriter takes a step into full-blown pop maximalism — or at least their version of it. " Maybe the first kind of 'pop' song I've ever made. And I think the most lyrically direct too, there's no poetry or cleverness to it, I felt strongly about clear communication this time. I love Robyn, Ray of Light-era Madonna, Cher, Donna Lewis, I love those kinds of 'empathetic' pop songs that feel like a hug from a friend." And it shows. 'Massive Everything' pulses with a bright, synthetic heart through lush synth beds and flickers of drum machine melancholy. It's outwardly buoyant, but under the surface, there's something deeply human. ' Everyone has their own invisible pains that are unexplainable, and this is a love song that tries to include as much of that as possible,' Lukas reflects. It's a kind of radical intimacy: a love song not in spite of those interior shadows, but because of them. 'Massive Everything' marks the beginning of a new chapter for Pickle Darling, one that reaches toward bigness without losing the cracked, glinting beauty of their past work. The new single, 'Massive Everything' follows the playful and innovative celebration of indie music and digital creativity, from last month, NZ Music Month, when Pickle Darling (Lukas Mayo) along with visual artist Christiane Shortal released "Pickle Darling: The Game", an immersive online experience. The charming, nostalgia-driven game invites players to join Pickle Darling on a whimsical quest: tracking down their mysteriously lost album. Blending Mayo's quirky musical sensibilities with Shortal's distinctive visual artistry, "Pickle Darling: The Game" offers fans a delightful glimpse into the trials, tribulations, and sheer magic behind an indie album release. The game features exclusive 8-bit renditions of beloved Pickle Darling tracks, including fan favourites "Bicycle Weather," "King Of Joy," and "Invercargill Angel". These uniquely reimagined versions were produced specifically for the game and will soon be available on TikTok and Instagram, encouraging fans to soundtrack their own online creations. Play the game here:
The Spinoff
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
The emergency mobile alert sound, reviewed
Another test, another shocking reminder of the emergency alert noise. We asked some experts to describe that indescribable sound. First published in 2023 shortly after yet another emergency alert. Over the past few days, weeks, months, years, people across the country have had their lives periodically punctuated by a loud warning screech emitting from their phone. Some of these have been warning of unusually heavy rain, others of a nationwide lockdown, most recently of Cyclone Gabrielle. It's a dreaded sound that many will be increasingly (and unfortunately) familiar with – but how exactly would you describe it? The start of the dial-up tone? The traffic lights at the start of Crash Team Racing? Or like the gates of hell opening up for us once more? We asked some of our finest writers, musicians and thinkers to weigh in. Sharon Lam, Writer It 100% sounds like a robot Pingu going NOOT NOOT, right? With glowing red eyes? Surely everyone will also say this? Joanna Cho, Author I'm with my nieces in Auckland and I said 'the alarm sounds like Pingu' and they said 'what's that' and I put on Pingu on YouTube and now they're lying around my work computer watching Pingu so I can't work, fine by me. The Beths, Band The notes that make the tone wouldn't be out of place in a song like Silence Is Golden, but if we did that, we'd have a count in! No count in is just wrong. It's also twisted how it calls and answers to itself when you're in a group of people. It's a bit of a musical cheat code – it is 'harmony', but most harmony suggests a place it wants to go, or at least a place it came from – that's what brainy musicians call 'function'. The emergency tone screams for attention, but doesn't really suggest any movement. Ironically, this makes it musically 'non-functional'. Haz Beats, Producer A Tsunami siren. The big panic apocalypse end of the world type lol. Definitely a siren. Jess Molina, Writer Sounds like I'm about to panic over not panic-buying toilet paper Toby Morris, Illustrator I remember reading about the concept of 'the brown noise' in WWII, where they researched finding a perfect note that'd loosen any bowels. I feel like the emergency noise has gotten close to that, combined with the visual equivalent – when they researched the most unpleasant possible colour which they used for non-labelled cigarette packaging. It's giving uncomfortable meets unnatural meets poo, basically. Aaron Yap, Psychic Glands DJ It sounds like a chintzy 1950s sci-fi movie robot vaporising you with its laser beam. Alan Holt, International Manager at New Zealand Music Commission Off the top of my head it reminds me of a quite a few things – side two of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music around the 10 minute mark, a less musical interpretation of 'Don't Take' from Sachiko M's Sine Wave Solo album and a less funky take on 'Sonata Number 5 (the 'Detroit Sonata')' from Bruce Russell's album Circuits of Omission : Sonaten für synthetisierten Klang (Opus 60). Nick Ascroft, Poet This sounds like a mouse ambulance reversing. As it should. Jane Yee, Treasure Island Star It sounds like all my nightmares coming true in one ear piercing screech. I physically left the couch vertically skywards when yesterday's one arrived. Usually have my phone on silent but I had been playing League of Legends Wild Rift on my phone which requires sound on and forgot to switch it back. I will never be the same again. Britt Mann, PR Maven The sound is getting familiar to me now. On Sunday it emanated separately and all at once from various corners of the house. The flatmate, the cat and I met each other's gaze in an instant. 'Was that…?' 'Yeah.' Severe, significant event. Red Alert Level Gabrielle. 'Top up?' She cracked the magnum of red we'd opened to mark the Beginning of the End of Days. Janaye Henry, Comedian If I was to Shazam that sound I reckon it would say Skrillex, Bangarang. Reuben Jelleyman, Acoustician The sound itself is basically the same as a phone dial tone but the emergency mobile alert is higher and richer in resonant sideband frequencies which makes the sound harsher. You also have the two beeps, which gets your attention. One beep would be easy to ignore. From my perspective the sound is strong enough to get your attention, but it's not meant to be harsh, it's to provoke fear. I would say it's easy to associate feelings with sound, that's normal. When we hear the alarm, it reminds us of the last time we were anticipating a tsunami or a storm and that puts us on edge. Sanjay Patel, Comedian It sounds like the government is alerting you to the fact that they have now finally discovered the most sordid thing you have searched for on the internet. Imogen Taylor, Painter If the alert was a painting it would probably be a whole exhibition of paintings and that exhibition would be in some art museum in some country quite far away that you'd been really excited about travelling to but when you got there you realised you got the museum dates mixed up and instead of there being a Georgia O'Keeffe retrospective on there was a fucking Banksy retrospective on and then to top it off you paid for the tickets which were horrendously expensive and went inside to look at the bullshit paintings but then realised whatever you had for lunch from that place on the corner outside the museum before you went in wasn't sitting right in your gut and you immediately need to find the bathroom somewhere. Rose Hoare, Writer It sounds antique to me. Like if they had emergency mobile alerts on Bridgerton, that's what they'd sound like. It sounds like a boomer ringtone to me. The kind that would be mildly irritating in an office environment. You learn to block it over time, but it will always give you an inner eye roll and feeling of superiority. It doesn't exactly evoke authority. Or urgency for that matter.
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
The Beths Sign To ANTI; Release New Single/Video 'Metal'; Announce 49 Date Northern Hemisphere Tour
The Beths — the Auckland based quartet of vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck — announce signing to LA based record label ANTI- and release the new single/video, ' Metal.' 'Metal' is the first taste of new music from the band since the release of 2023's Expert In A Dying Field (Deluxe), the expanded version of their #1 2022 album. Following Liz Stokes's recent, sold–out solo show at Largo in Los Angeles with special guests Courtney Barnett and Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords), The Beths announce a tour across North America, the UK and Europe for the northern hemisphere fall. The band returns to the U.S. for the first time since playing Coachella, Bonnaroo and Newport Folk Festival, and supporting The National, Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service in 2023-2024. They'll headline some of their biggest venues to date including The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Salt Shed in Chicago, Brooklyn Paramount in New York City, Union Transfer in Philadelphia, 9:30 Club in Washington, DC and more. Tickets go on sale Fri. May 2 (US) at 10am local and are available at Today's single 'Metal' was born out of a time of rigorous touring, mental health struggles, and several diagnoses for Stokes. 'In some ways 'Metal' is a song about being alive and existing in a human body,' she explains. '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'. 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.' Sonically, the track sees The Beths fully embracing jangle rock. Stokes says, 'There was a propulsion to the acoustic strumming pattern on the original demo. 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.' The accompanying video, shot by long time collaborators Sports Team (Annabel Kean and Callum Devlin) was shot on a farm in Leigh and sees The Beths donning wet weather gear as they forage for metal. 2023's Expert In A Dying Field (Deluxe) expanded upon the brilliance of The Beths' acclaimed 2022 album, 'another collection of tunes that cements their status as one of the great guitar-pop bands of this present moment' (Stereogum). The third studio album from The Beths, Expert In A Dying Field was released to a wealth of critical praise, and was named one of 2022's best releases by the likes of Pitchfork, The Ringer, Stereogum and more. Surrounding its release, The Beths were profiled by Rolling Stone, made their U.S. television debut on CBS Saturday Morning, and performed an NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, The Beths are undeniably one of the most exciting indie rock bands to emerge in recent memory. The Beths Tour Dates: Thu. Sept. 18 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory Sat. Sept. 20 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall Sun. Sept. 21 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 TV Studio Mon. Sept. 22 – Leeds, UK @ Project House Wed. Sept. 24 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Thu. Sept. 25 – Birmingham, UK @ XOYO Fri. Sept. 26 – London, UK @ Roundhouse Sat. Sept. 27 – Brighton, UK @ CHALK Mon. Sept. 29 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix Tue. Sept. 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 * Sat. Nov. 22 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre * Sun. Nov. 23 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed (Indoor) * + Tue. Nov 25 – Cleveland, OH @ Globe Iron * Wed. Nov. 26 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre * Fri. Nov. 28 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall * Sat. Nov. 29 – Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre * Tue. Dec. 2 – Boston, MA @ Royale * Wed. Dec. 3 – Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall * Fri. Dec. 5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount * # Sat. Dec. 6 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer * Tue. Dec. 9 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club * * w/ Phoebe Rings ^ w/ Bret McKenzie + w/ Squirrel Flower # w/ illuminati hotties Praise for The Beths & Expert In A Dying Field '[On 'Expert in a Dying Field' Elizabeth Stokes] sounds brightly conversational but stretched to her limits over the band's rough-and-rumble power-pop, though the exuberant climax reveals a breakthrough: acceptance that carrying these memories is part of living, not dying.' — NPR, Best Songs of 2022 '…Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck make music that has a sugar-rush immediacy and a craftsman-like attention to detail that invites close listening.' – Pitchfork 'Liz Stokes has proven herself to be an expert in another dying field: the perfectly crafted indie rock pop song.' — Brooklyn Vegan, Top 50 Albums of 2022 '[Expert In A Dying Field] cements their status as one of the great guitar-pop bands of this present moment.' — Stereogum 'The Beths are responsible for some of the best rock melodies of the last half-decade, and Dying Field is just another stop on the earworm express.' — Paste 'The [Beths'] latest iteration of their charming power pop style is leaner and cleaner than ever before, polished to a pristine gleam in perfect contrast to their yearning lyrical barbs.' — Under The Radar, Top 100 Albums of 2022 '[Expert In A Dying Field is] a truly amazing (and expert) slice of garage-born but stadium-worthy anthemia' — The Ringer, The 33 Best Albums of 2022.
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
The Beths Sign To ANTI; Release New Single/Video; "Metal" Announce 49 Date Northern Hemisphere Tour
The Beths — the Auckland based quartet of vocalist Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck — announce signing to LA based record label ANTI- and release the new single/video, ' Metal.' 'Metal' is the first taste of new music from the band since the release of 2023's Expert In A Dying Field (Deluxe), the expanded version of their #1 2022 album. Following Liz Stokes's recent, sold–out solo show at Largo in Los Angeles with special guests Courtney Barnett and Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords), The Beths announce a tour across North America, the UK and Europe for the northern hemisphere fall. The band returns to the U.S. for the first time since playing Coachella, Bonnaroo and Newport Folk Festival, and supporting The National, Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service in 2023-2024. They'll headline some of their biggest venues to date including The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Salt Shed in Chicago, Brooklyn Paramount in New York City, Union Transfer in Philadelphia, 9:30 Club in Washington, DC and more. Tickets go on sale Fri. May 2 (US) at 10am local and are available at Today's single 'Metal' was born out of a time of rigorous touring, mental health struggles, and several diagnoses for Stokes. 'In some ways 'Metal' is a song about being alive and existing in a human body,' she explains. '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'. 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.' Sonically, the track sees The Beths fully embracing jangle rock. Stokes says, 'There was a propulsion to the acoustic strumming pattern on the original demo. 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.' The accompanying video, shot by long time collaborators Sports Team (Annabel Kean and Callum Devlin) was shot on a farm in Leigh and sees The Beths donning wet weather gear as they forage for metal. 2023's Expert In A Dying Field (Deluxe) expanded upon the brilliance of The Beths' acclaimed 2022 album, 'another collection of tunes that cements their status as one of the great guitar-pop bands of this present moment' (Stereogum). The third studio album from The Beths, Expert In A Dying Field was released to a wealth of critical praise, and was named one of 2022's best releases by the likes of Pitchfork, The Ringer, Stereogum and more. Surrounding its release, The Beths were profiled by Rolling Stone, made their U.S. television debut on CBS Saturday Morning, and performed an NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, The Beths are undeniably one of the most exciting indie rock bands to emerge in recent memory. The Beths Tour Dates: Thu. Sept. 18 - Dublin, IE @ Button Factory Sat. Sept. 20 - Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall Sun. Sept. 21 - Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 TV Studio Mon. Sept. 22 - Leeds, UK @ Project House Wed. Sept. 24 - Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy Thu. Sept. 25 - Birmingham, UK @ XOYO Fri. Sept. 26 - London, UK @ Roundhouse Sat. Sept. 27 - Brighton, UK @ CHALK Mon. Sept. 29 - Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix Tue. Sept. 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 * Sat. Nov. 22 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre * Sun. Nov. 23 - Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed (Indoor) * + Tue. Nov 25 - Cleveland, OH @ Globe Iron * Wed. Nov. 26 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre * Fri. Nov. 28 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall * Sat. Nov. 29 - Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre * Tue. Dec. 2 - Boston, MA @ Royale * Wed. Dec. 3 - Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall * Fri. Dec. 5 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount * # Sat. Dec. 6 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer * Tue. Dec. 9 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club * * w/ Phoebe Rings ^ w/ Bret McKenzie + w/ Squirrel Flower # w/ illuminati hotties Praise for The Beths & Expert In A Dying Field '[On 'Expert in a Dying Field' Elizabeth Stokes] sounds brightly conversational but stretched to her limits over the band's rough-and-rumble power-pop, though the exuberant climax reveals a breakthrough: acceptance that carrying these memories is part of living, not dying.' — NPR, Best Songs of 2022 '…Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck make music that has a sugar-rush immediacy and a craftsman-like attention to detail that invites close listening." - Pitchfork 'Liz Stokes has proven herself to be an expert in another dying field: the perfectly crafted indie rock pop song.' — Brooklyn Vegan, Top 50 Albums of 2022 '[Expert In A Dying Field] cements their status as one of the great guitar-pop bands of this present moment.' — Stereogum "The Beths are responsible for some of the best rock melodies of the last half-decade, and Dying Field is just another stop on the earworm express.' — Paste 'The [Beths'] latest iteration of their charming power pop style is leaner and cleaner than ever before, polished to a pristine gleam in perfect contrast to their yearning lyrical barbs.' — Under The Radar, Top 100 Albums of 2022 '[Expert In A Dying Field is] a truly amazing (and expert) slice of garage-born but stadium-worthy anthemia' — The Ringer, The 33 Best Albums of 2022.
