The Beths sign with Ivy League Records, drop new single
New Zealand melodic indie-pop outfit The Beths have signed with Ivy League Records, for representation on both sides of the Tasman.
To celebrate the new deal, the foursome shares ‘A Real Thing,’ their first new cut since their well-received second album dropped in 2020, Jump Rope Gazers.
“We are all so thrilled to have The Beths on Ivy League Records,” comments A&R Director Marihuzka Cornelius. “We’ve been huge fans of theirs for a long time, watching lovingly from the sidelines until now. It’s an honour to be part of putting their exceptional music out and we feel they are a perfect fit amongst our roster of (brilliant) artists.”
At Ivy League, an affiliate of Mushroom Group, The Beths join a roster that includes Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Hatchie, A. Swayze & the Ghosts, The Rubens, The Teskey Brothers and Bakers Eddy.
‘A Real Thing’ bubbles with The Beths’ trademark energy, and asks solid questions for which none of us have adequate answers.
Watch The Beths’ ‘A Real Thing’:
Lead singer Liz Stokes wrote the song in late 2020, following the elections in New Zealand and the messy changing of the guard in the United States. “‘A Real Thing’ is a kind of anxiety dream. It’s a bit muddled, a bit frantic, a bit sinister,” she explains.
Stokes’ lyrics contain metaphorical references to how her compatriots have battled rising tides in the past.
“In NZ,” she says, “people sometimes use tyres and cement to build retaining walls by the water, to try to stop the land being eroded away as the sea encroaches. It doesn’t really work.”
Following the release of their 2018 breakthrough debut album Future Me Hates Me, The Beths enjoyed lavish praise from tastemakers on both sides of the globe, from Rolling Stone to Pitchfork and more.
They’ve gone on to grace the stages of Pukkelpop, The Great Escape, SXSW, Bigsound Primavera, Splendour in the Grass, and Latitude Festival, and score multiple New Zealand Music Awards (2019: Best Group, Best Alternative Artist) and Aotearoa Music Awards (2020: Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Alternative Artist).
The Beths — Stokes, lead guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, and drummer Tristan Deck — are currently on a 17-date North American headline tour, with an Australian tour to roll out next month with shows at Sydney’s Factory Theatre (10 March), Brisbane’s The Zoo (11 March) and Melbourne’s The Night Cat (12 March).
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.