New Zealand indie rockers The Beths broke out with their 2018 debut record Future Me Hates Me. Follow its release, the band toured extensively with the likes of Death Cab For Cutie and The Pixies. Traveling the world, The Beths learned a lot about themselves, but vocalist Elizabeth Stokes found she still faced the same self-doubt. The Beths tackle those themes in Jump Rope Gazers, their sophomore album that was released Friday.
To commemorate the record’s release, The Beths graced fans with a video accompanying their sophomore effort’s title track. Directed by Annabel Kean, Stokes explores the picturesque New Zealand landscape with guitarist Jonathan Pearce.
“All the different landscapes were fifteen minutes walk from each other,” Stokes said about the visual. “I’d never seen sand dunes that big before, they were a beautiful dream. Walking up one was kind of like a nightmare though, they are so steep.” Kean added, “‘Jump Rope Gazers’ is a total heart-breaker, huge feelings track, and it was clear from the first listen that Sports Team had to go bigger than ever to match the calibre. So, we shot a 5-minute sci-fi alien adventure romance.”
About the track in general, Stokes said described her inspiration behind the expressive lyrics: “I’ve always dabbled in extreme sincerity, but always self consciously. I think there’s nothing scarier than just using the words ‘I love you’ in a song. In a love song. I didn’t manage it on our first album, but I guess I was ready for this one. The bass drum Tristan used for this one was a huge old modified marching bass drum. It’s the slowest tempo we have played, which gives us space to do things we wouldn’t normally be able to.”
Watch “Jump Rope Gazers” above.
Jump Rope Gazers is out now via Carpark. Get it here.
Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.