New Zealand indie outfit The Beths are gearing up to enter their new era, unveiling a new signing, new single, and new tour dates.
The Auckland-formed quartet made their return this week with the release of new single “Metal,” which arrives as their first piece of new music since 2023’s expanded edition of the previous year’s Expert in a Dying Field LP. The original record peaked at no. 6 on the Heatseekers chart, while the reissue also included new single “Watching the Credits,” which also featured on Barack Obama’s 2023 summer playlist.
Alongside their 2025 return, The Beths have announced their signing to Epitaph sister label ANTI-, ostensibly indicating an imminent announcement of their fourth album. In the meantime, however, the group have previewed what’s to come with “Metal,” a single born out of a time of rigorous touring, mental health struggles, and several diagnoses for vocalist and guitarist Elizabeth Stokes.
“In some ways ‘Metal’ is a song about being alive and existing in a human body,” Stokes 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,” she adds. “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 s–t.’ Or ‘ugly.’ Or ‘worthless,’” Stokes concludes. “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.”
Additionally, The Beths have also announced an extensive global tour, which launches in the U.K. in September ahead of a run of European shows, and then wraps up with a 26-date run of North American gigs between October and November.
The Beths – 2025 North American Tour
Oct. 30 – The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
Oct. 31 – Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
Nov. 1 – Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville, TN
Nov. 3 – The Studio at the Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
Nov. 4 – Emo’s, Austin, TX
Nov. 6 – The Van Buren, Phoenix, AZ
Nov. 7 – The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 8 – The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
Nov. 12 – Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA
Nov. 14 – Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
Nov. 15 – The Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA
Nov. 16 – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, British Columbia
Nov. 18 – Metro Music Hall, Salt Lake City, UT
Nov. 19 – Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
Nov. 21 – The Truman, Kansas City, MO
Nov. 22 – Palace Theatre, Saint Paul, MN
Nov. 23 – The Salt Shed, Chicago, IL
Nov. 25 – Globe Iron, Cleveland, OH
Nov. 26 – Roxian Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
Nov. 28 – Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario
Nov. 29 – Beanfield Theatre, Montreal, Quebec
Dec. 2 – Royale, Boston, MA
Dec. 3 – Fete Music Hall, Providence, RI
Dec. 5 – Brooklyn Paramount, Brooklyn, NY
Dec. 6 – Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA
Dec. 9 – 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
