According to the liner notes of The Beths‘ new album, Expert in a Dying Field, the theme of the album can be summed up in one question: “What do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life?”
As a widower of nearly a year, I can relate to that. We all can at some point or another, be it a spouse, a lover, a friend, a child who leaves for college, a pet, a coworker, or even a trusted neighbor. The album is a lovely, and rocking, story crafted lyrically by Elizabeth Stokes (guitar and lead vocals) and her bandmates, Tristan Deck (drums), Jonathan Pierce (lead guitar and keyboards), and Benjamin Sinclair (bass).
“Can we erase our history? It isn’t as easy as this,” Stokes sings on the opening title track. It’s not. Letting go of that history is hard, but the risk of holding onto it is being dragged to death. The song has a slight melancholy to it, but also a lot of hope. “Knees Deep” is, after all, about jumping into something new with both feet and braving the risks of adventure (and love). Pierce’s guitar fuzzes out on “Silence Is Golden” – a nice, ironic touch.
“Don’t cry. I’m driving all night to be by your side,” Stokes sings on the lovely “Your Side.” To feel this kind of love, where you’re willing to drive cross-state or even cross-country for even just a few hours with someone, is a gift to be treasured. “It’s been quite a year,” The Beths sing on “I Want to Listen.” That’s a mild way of putting it for certain, but they encourage us to reach out to each other to help us all heal.
“Head in the Clouds” is a great rocker, with Deck’s drums hitting hard for the seats in the back of the auditorium. “Best Left” continues the rocking, even as Stokes sings about her being miserable and feeling she’s “best left to rot.” “Change in the Weather” has her feeling better, and “When You Know You Know” has her thinking that love might still be in the cards for her, and for all of us.
Stokes and the rest of the band have a bit of an angry edge on “A Passing Rain” – in which Stokes calls out someone for sticking around to seemingly just make her like worse. I love the way they jump back and forth between silence and breakneck rhythms on “I Told You That I Was Afraid.” “2am” has Stokes wondering if she could return to a simpler time with a lover, but knowing that moment, like all moments in time, is already gone…and yet it still exists in the present.
The whole album is like this – a look back at the past through the lens of the present, which is truly the only way to see it since the past took place in the present. Expert in a Dying Field is a bit of a Zen koan, a lesson on letting go or being dragged.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]
