The Beths

On The Beths’ new album Expert In A Dying Field, Elizabeth Stokes’ songwriting positions her somewhere between being a novelist and a documentarian. The songs collected here are autobiographical, but they’re also character sketches of relationships and more importantly, their aftermaths. The question that hangs in the air: what do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life?

The third LP from the New Zealand quartet houses 12 jewels of tight, guitar-heavy songs that worm their way into your head, an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz. The album’s title track “Expert In A Dying Field” introduces the thesis for the record: “How does it feel to be an expert in a dying field? How do you know it’s over when you can’t let go?” Stokes asks. “Love is learned over time ‘til you’re an expert in a dying field.”

‘Expert In A Dying Field’ is out now via Carpark Records and Ivy League Records.

Cult producer Princess Chelsea crafted her upcoming “nervous breakdown album” Everything is Going to be Alright, at home in pastoral Aotearoa New Zealand. The album, due this October, is a comforting offering. These aren’t wallowing sad songs, instead, instead it’s twin opening and closing tracks chronicle Chelsea Nikkel’s recovery, and are intended to be a cathartic listen for anybody who might need it. “If you feel you want to die / trust me darling / it just takes time” she sings in forthcoming single ‘Time.’ Meanwhile, carefully layered vocal melodies set over mellotron flutes and harp interwoven with live cello and violin showcase Chelsea’s skills as an arranger and producer.

Chelsea’s cinematic, dreamy pop has been refined over 11 years, five albums, an E.P, and 11 singles. Her delivery and songwriting is distinctive for layering almost naive earnestness with cynical, tongue-in-check wit and aural sparkles. Her 2018 grunge girl group track ‘I Love My Boyfriend’ and her 2011 Nancy & Lee inspired ‘Cigarette Duet’ have recently raised her profile into the wider public consciousness via the grass roots influence of a new Tik Tok Generation.