Narc. Magazine Online
Reliably informed
Lee Hammond discovers an album of jangle pop brilliance from the New Zealand four-piece
ANTI-
Released: 29.08.25
Image by Frances Carter
The highly anticipated follow-up to critically acclaimed Expert In A Dying Field is every bit as good as you hoped, if a little different to what you may have come to expect from The Beths. Their earnest, heartfelt lyrics remain, but they’ve changed a few things up. It is less evident in opener and title track Straight Line Was A Lie, which has all the jangle pop brilliance that you’d hope from them, with its sing-along chorus addressing the cyclical nature of life rather than a standard linear progression that some may expect.
The album weaves through a variety of genres; No Joy and Take feel a lot heavier than The Beths’ typical sound, and both tracks demand attention – No Joy in particular has a dark undertone with its heavy percussive sound coupled with the repetition of “this year’s gonna kill me.”
Mother Pray for me is one of the standout tracks on Straight Line Was A Lie, it’s much more subdued, allowing Stokes’ voice to hit much harder as she contemplates the lived experience of her mother and how she feels about their relationship. It’s a wonderfully powerful song but feels somewhat at odds with the tracks around it on the record.
Roundabout and Metal both have that signature The Beths sound to them yet feel somewhat polished in comparison to previous albums. Indeed, the overall standard and sound of Straight Line Was A Lie is excellent; it’s a record which oozes quality throughout.
The album reaches a crescendo with Best Laid Plans, and it feels like a fitting end; this deep and heartfelt track sums up the dark themes that punctuate the majority of the record. This is The Beths’ rawest record, deeper than those which have gone before it. Stokes’ writing takes us inward, tackling more difficult topics, though they are portrayed wonderfully well. Straight Line Was A Lie is a standout record and one which documents a band moving forward in every sense of the word, despite life’s detours and bumps in the road.
