The Beths Follow Up ‘Tiny Desk’ Debut With New Song ‘Watching the Credits’

“Watching the Credits,” the new single from the Beths, didn’t arrive in time to make the setlist for their debut performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series, but the New Zealand band had enough material in their back pocket to fill the space.

The indie rock quartet led by Elizabeth Stokes ran through a four-song set with Jon Pearce, Benjamin Sinclair, and Tristan Deck. It featured the title track from their latest album, Expert in a Dying Field, as well as “Jump Rope Gazers.” The 20-minute performance also included charming renditions of “Out of Sight” and “When You Know You Know.”

With “Watching the Credits,” inspired by Stokes’ affinity for spending more time learning about movies than she does watching them, the Beths embark on their fourth album era less than a year after sharing Expert in a Dying Field. The record imagines the singer and songwriter filling in the role of a film director.

“It’s just a story I don’t quite believe/Full of plot holes and constant monotony/Who’s going to root for this unlikeable lead?/Not them, not me, not likely,” Stokes sings. “Maybe it’s something we can fix in post/Or we can get take after take ’til the cows come home/Shut the door, I’m feeling overexposed/Now they all know.”

Alongside their Tiny Desk debut and the unveiling of “Watching the Credits,” the Beths also shared a slate of additional tour days extending their run of shows in North America. The summer tour now includes 17 new shows, with three scheduled for Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg at the close of the tour in October. Additional information and full tour dates can be found on the band’s official website.