New Zealand indie-pop outfit The Beths are back with their second LP since the critically acclaimed 2018 release, Future Hates Me. Following the success of their first LP, they went on their first world tour. Elizabeth Stokes (lead vocals and guitar) wrote the new LP, Jump Rope Gazers while they were on tour. The theme of distance is a major component of the new LP, given the group’s newfound success, this theme was amplified. Her lyrics, relatable, shy, but sometimes blunt always work in unison with her voice. The group met studying jazz at the University of Auckland, and the influences of their studies can be heard in Stokes’s concise vocals, and the group’s instrumental control. The Beths utilize elements of their first LP on their sophomore effort—lyrical depth, catchy hooks, and sonic gems are scattered throughout the ten tracks on Jump Rope Gazers.
On the title track, “Jump Rope Gazers”, the group wastes no time diving into a jam session only to roll into a downtempo matching Stokes’s crystal clear vocals, “I’ve never been the dramatic type/But if I don’t see your face tonight/I… well I guess I’ll be fine”. At the chorus, the pace picks up and Stokes sings, “I think I love you/And I think that I loved you the whole time/How could this happen/We were jump rope gazers in the middle of the night”. As she sings, the group harmonizes which replicates Pet Sounds era Beach Boys humming and harmonizing. The Beths utilize slow and fast tempos to build the chorus and the bridge which features a quick and cutting guitar solo that exits as soon as it enters, but leaves the listener struck by its timing.
“You are a beam of light” begins as an unassuming acoustic track that finds Stokes tenderly singing to a distant loved one while a guitar backs her vocals. The group harmonizes as she sings, “You are a beam of light/Maybe that’s why your battery runs dry”. Synthesizers, piano chords, subtle percussion, and a faint electric guitar are added in, constructing this song to the last lyric a repetition of the chorus, “Maybe that’s why your battery runs dry”. Here last “you are a beam of light” fizzles brightly then it burns out like the bright artificial glow of a text message reading “Good night”.
The Beths focus on the difficult stresses of close relationships when distance is added to the equation. Jump Rope Gazers shows how bright Stokes’s vocals and lyrics can shine, especially when they are amplified by the group’s efforts. Elizabeth Stokes’s voice is sharp and nuanced like her lyrics, and the unexpected sonics that The Beths employ throughout Jump Rope Gazers lands these ten tracks into new territory. Moments such as the bridge on “Jump Rope Gazers” or on “Just Shy of Sure” where the group harmonizes, and they sound like they are underwater attempting to stay afloat showing how important it is to remain grounded when their lives have changed so much. The Beths are indie-pop pioneers, and their second LP solidifies them as such.
Photo by Mason Fairey
