The Beths' Elizabeth Stokes has a remarkable talent for making self-doubt and self-deprecation sound sugar-coated. "I wish that I was brave enough to dive in/ but I never have been and I never will be/ I'm coming in hot and freezing completely," she sweetly sings on "Knees Deep," drums bobbing like buoys as she accepts her own boundaries with a smile. "You're a good actor/ Must be a drag to/ Know me when I'm down," she cheerfully and conversationally compliments someone on fuzzed-up "A Passing Rain," which features a great petite drum solo from Tristan Deck. (The song could be a companion piece to the band's terrific 2019 single "You Wouldn't Like Me.") Stokes' voice is chipper to begin with, and her New Zealand accent only adds to it—giving words as simple as "water," "birds" and "can't" a friendly feel. She also approaches the end of relationships with an explorer's curiosity. The deliciously bittersweet title song charms with a smart metaphor about putting so much time into learning about another person in a relationship, and what happens to all that knowledge when things go belly-up: "How does it feel to be an expert in a dying field?" And "Best Left" pragmatically declares that it's better not to dig up regrets and what-if questions from those ashes. As the musical anticipation builds and kick-in drums provide delayed relief, Stokes reassuringly enthuses, "Some things are best left to rot." The band runs the gamut of the power-pop spectrum: With its nervy start-stop guitar and drums, "Silence Is Golden" feels like All's clever punk-pop. "Head in the Clouds" is blessed with buttery harmonies and Sugar-style muscularity. "When You Know You Know" does a jangle pop shuffle, with Stokes repeating the words "you know" until it hypnotizes—then the heated guitar immediately shakes it off. The foursome has said it is influenced by Bully and Alvvays, which makes sense given the refreshed-'90s vibe: This isn't shoegazing, but delightful clarity. But the band also got its start after some of the members met while studying jazz at university—and you can hear it in the floaty ballad "2am," which breaks out into The Beths' version of a free-form freak-out. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz