Expert In A Dying Field

The Beths are an indie rock band from Auckland, New Zealand, who are composed of drummer Tristan Deck, bassist Benjamin Sinclair, guitarist Jonathan Pierce, and vocalist Elizabeth (Liz) Stokes. They formed in 2015 in Auckland, and have been under the radar for the past several years, but have popped up onto the indie scene with their 2022 record, “Expert In A Dying Field”. This is the 3rd studio album recorded by the band, and is 12 songs and 44 minutes long, and is a beautiful example of artistic indie alt rock, with soaring and expressive guitars, preppy drums, and haunting melodies all supporting Liz’s meaningful and poetic lyrics about love and finding your place in the world.

Album Overview: The album is about a relationship that is slowly fading, and the feeling of wasted time that a bad relationship often means. The feeling of being an expert in a subject that is dying out and will soon have no use is a bleak one. You know so much about the other person, but all that knowledge will no longer have any value. The lyrics explore this concert thoroughly, but it doesn’t mean the album is totally devoid of happiness. The band uses these grim emotions to accentuate the joy that can be found within these moments, and the instrumentation is very contradictory to a lot of the lyrics.

Notable Songs: “Expert In A Dying Field” was the lead single and is the opening song, and it, as the name suggests, describes the whole feeling of the album. It features a catchy chorus and beautifully sad lyrics, paired with a preppy rhythm section and uplifting guitars. Track 4, “Your Side” is a happy sounding love song, where Liz sings about how she would do anything to “be by your side”. It features some bubbly guitars and angelic backing vocals. “When You Know You Know” is the 9th track on the album, and it delivers a pristine acoustic rock sound with shredding guitar solos, drum fills, and flawless vocals on top. It too follows the theme of the album lyrically, and delivers lyrics that at first sound happy, but upon further analysis are kind of depressing. The album closer, “2am”, is an eerily beautiful song that is slower in pace compared to the rest of the album, and uses a lot of ambient, ghostly sounds to close off the album in a perfect way. Liz sings about the past relationship she had, and all the regrets, memories, and mixed emotions she feels about it. The song builds to a haunting climax, where all the instruments collide, and it slows down again to allow Liz to deliver the last lines of the album.

Closing Notes: “Expert In A Dying Field” is an album that I went into expecting to hear the average indie pop rock, similar to what is very popular nowadays. However, the album is incredibly complex sonically. All of the band members have extreme talent on their instruments, and it allows them to compose genuinely great songs. The overall sound is so unique in the context of the genre, and it is so refreshing to listen to. Liz’s kiwi accent is the cherry on top to the sound, and it really brings it to the front. However, I think this album shines most with its lyrics. The writing ranges from very complex to downright genius, and it tackles very common and overdone problems in such fresh and new ways.