The Beths have used their latest livestream to launch their latest single, sharing “I’m Not Getting Excited” with fans overnight.
Guitarist and vocalist Elizabeth Stokes introduced the track during the group’s Live From ‘House’ 2 stream overnight, with guitarist Jonathan Pearce helping to debut the song by way of a “chill acoustic version”.
“People always ask ‘are you excited!?’ and it’s a fair question, because exciting things do happen to us sometimes,” Stokes says of the new single. “Support slots, overseas tours, music releases. Stuff we’ve dreamed about for years.
“So the correct answer is always ‘yes.’ But the truth is that deep down there’s a tiny Liz saying, ‘don’t get excited.’ She is certain that anything good that could happen will most likely not happen, because of a freak accident. Or because somebody finally realises that we aren’t worthy, shouts “phony!” and takes everything away.
“I wrote ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ last year, well before everything really did get taken away. From everyone. It feels like the song has a new context, but we don’t know what it is yet. And now we all share a blurry, uncertain future.”
While the group also performed tracks such as “Lying in the Sun”, “You Wouldn’t Like Me”, and a cover of Bic Runga’s “Sway”, their livestream ended with the official release of “I’m Not Getting Excited” and its accompanying video, which had been previewed during the stream.
Directed and animated by Callum Devlin and Annabel Kean while under lockdown, a statement explains that the directors “animated old towels, all the cardboard in the house and The Beths themselves… frame by bloody frame.”
“There’s a lot of scary imagery in the song that we wanted to play on,” they continued. “There’s a madness too, in the contradiction between what the song is about and its frenetic energy. It has defined the lockdown for us—being locked indoors but furiously busy.”
In related news, The Beths were also announced as the support act for the Australian edition of the Hella Mega Tour, which sees Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy teaming up for a global trek. Currently set to take place in November, there’s been no word as to whether COVID-19 will see these dates pushed back.
The Hella Mega Tour: Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer
Special Guest, The Beths
Sunday, November 8th
HBF Park, Perth, WA
Wednesday, November 11th
Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday, November 14th
Bankwest Stadium, Sydney, NSW
Tuesday, November 17th
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets on sale now via Live Nation
