Beth Elsden on “Peace Comes With It”

Growing up, Beth was always surrounded by music, from writing songs and performing in local productions to busking on the street. Later, while studying at the University of Otago, she met collaborator and producer Abby Wolfe, who encouraged her to begin recording her work. Now Beth is stepping into a new chapter with “Peace Comes With It”, the second single from her debut body of work, The Waiting Room. Following her debut release “Losing You Slow”, which arrived on 13 March, the new track offers another glimpse into a project shaped by patience, longing, and the quiet unfolding of time, and I had the privilege of discussing this with her.

Did you grow up loving music, and how did you get into music?

I would say my start began in musical theatre; that’s what drew me in. My first memory was when we had the CD of Annie, and I snuck into the lounge to put it on myself. I feel like my mum thought, wait, can she sing? Or maybe something happened before that, but that’s definitely my first memory. At 10, I begged for singing lessons, got involved in musical theatre training, and did school productions all through high school. I learned to play the guitar at the age of 9. I fell in love with Taylor Swift pretty early, which definitely influenced me. By the time I was out of high school, I’d done a lot of musical theatre and plenty of songwriting I didn’t really share. I was very torn between what I wanted to pursue. I knew I loved music my whole life, but I didn’t know which aspect I loved more. I was torn between the two aspects.

Who are some of your creative inspirations?

I think right now I’m really loving all the British pop girls. Everyone’s setting a great example by writing their own work and creating their own vision for how they want their music to look and sound. People like Holly Humberstone and Maisie Peters are inspiring, as are Gretta Ray and Charley from Australia. I’m especially inspired by artists who put a lot of effort into the concepts behind their music. I’m also influenced by Eli, who loves her music so much. On the softer side, I admire people like Searows, Phoebe Bridgers, and Mori. Artists who can captivate with just their guitar and vocals stand out to me, because I often find myself layering harmonies. I love listening to stripped-back music where you can really focus on the lyrics. I’m a huge fan of lyricism and definitely lean more toward lyrics than music in general.

With your background in theatre, do you also consider set design and visuals?

I definitely wanted an overarching concept with my music, and I always want to incorporate that musical theatre quality. For this single, I made a Paper Moon as the artwork. That involved cutting a piece of cardboard from a fridge box into a wonky semicircle, glueing crate paper on, spray-painting it, and standing it up. I’d never done anything like that before, but I think music needs a visual world to go along with it. I had a clear idea of what I wanted it to look like, so I went for it with the DIY, with varied results. I looked into what colours I wanted for this first project and the overall tone of all the images so they’d work together. That’s been an exciting part of the process for me. I hadn’t considered it while making the music; it came afterwards. Now that I’ve had some practice, I want to put a lot of thought into it for all my future projects.

Do the visuals come first, or are they born from the music?

I would say they’re born from the music, but that could be because I didn’t understand how to do that before being thrown in the deep end. Next time, it might come alongside the music as I write, with that in mind. I think you need a big body of work before you can see the threads that tie everything together. For me, with this first project, I liked the idea of my songs being about being in the waiting room of your life. My musical theatre background inspired me to think about watching your life unfold, which led me to explore old Hollywood concepts, movie theatres, and set design, like in The Paper Moon, and to draw thematic connections. It’s not word-for-word what I’m writing about, but more a design to bring it all together.

Who do you make music for?

That’s a good question. These first five songs, coming out soon, weren't written without the idea that I’d be chasing this career. It came from a more organic place. Most of the songs were written in response to something my friend or sister was going through, and I wrote them as a bid for connection. I’d often say, " Hey, I wrote you this song; it might make you feel better. With this single, Peace Comes With It, I was asked to write it for a peace documentary. That was a hard prompt because writing a song about peace on Earth doesn’t feel natural for me. I had to dig into what it means to me. So, I take inspiration from everyone and write to connect with others, but it has to resonate personally. Sometimes, a movie or someone’s experience sparks those thoughts and helps me find the best way to write them.

Was the waiting room concept intentionally tied to that twenty-something crisis feeling?

That’s exactly it. It’s often written about because that 20s existential crisis is so strong. The waiting room concept started with these songs at 20; I finished it at 24, and I’m 26 now. It’s interesting to talk about a project retrospectively, but it’s a culmination of the first years of my 20s. I entered my 20s with a lot of self-doubt and some tragic events, which we all probably have experienced, and then there was the pandemic. It was a confusing time to be 21. Social media made me think I needed to be somewhere different. The waiting room was actually the last song I wrote. After writing it, I realised all the songs I’d been working on tied together; they reflected the times I wasn’t in love or thriving in a career, the times when I had to be grateful and make the best of a bad deal. That concept ran through my music. So you’re exactly right, it’s about those first few years, because that’s when I wrote them.

Looking back on this project, what would you tell a young creative?

When I began recording at 21, I had the idea that as long as I had music out by 22, even just one song, and kept going, I could be happy with my progress. Now that I’m 26 and releasing music for the first time, I’m grateful I took the time to sit with my art without worrying about public perception. I’ve grown a lot and wouldn’t have been ready for the boldness and self-assuredness needed to put my art out there. I’d tell any younger creative that you deserve to build trust with yourself before letting others define you. If it takes a few more years than you expect, it’s worth it.

How has your social media presence helped you build a strong fan base?

That’s really interesting, because a lot of the viral videos I’ve experienced are very fleeting. Even though I was happy to find people through those videos, since it’s a perfect intersection of my interests, I don’t think it necessarily translates to building a solid fanbase for my music, which might be unexpected. I enjoy creating content because it's interesting, but I definitely think slow and steady wins the race on social media. It’s more important to reach one person who says they really felt something in their chest; that’s when I feel like I’ve succeeded, rather than having a video just rack up numbers.

How do you find fighting for visibility as a Kiwi artist through social media?

It’s hard to tell from the back end what’s working and what’s not. I’ve noticed that when I mention I’m from New Zealand, people tend to pay slightly more attention, which is interesting. When people are scrolling, they might assume they’re not seeing anything from New Zealand, so they wonder how it relates to them. I’ve also had to deal with the insecurity of not feeling different enough, like I’m just one among many talented people. At times, I’ve felt like there isn’t quite a place in New Zealand where I fit musically. When I was in Dunedin, I didn’t feel fully comfortable performing my breakup songs with just my guitar; it didn’t quite match the vibe. Social media is a great tool because it lets you bypass some of those barriers by reaching people interested in pop music or discovering new artists. Still, it’s difficult coming from New Zealand. Many people move to London to be part of a larger pool of potential listeners. I think audiences in other parts of the world, especially in America, are more interested in finding and supporting smaller artists so they can say they were there first, while I don’t think New Zealanders care about that as much.

How does the Kiwi music culture around pub gigs, small venues, and busking resonate with your story?

It’s interesting, I used to do gigs in Dunedin at various places around town. Looking back, one regret I have is not performing more and not throwing myself into it, because you can really only improve by doing more shows. That’s a big goal of mine this year: to get more performance hours under my belt. My dream is to have a proper band, with intro music, backup singers, and maybe even some dancing. Where I see myself and what I can currently do are a bit disconnected. Still, I definitely want to be part of the small venue scene and spend more time gigging in pubs, which I hope to do from June onwards.

What do you hope people take away from your new song Peace Comes With It?

This feels like an interesting time to be releasing the song. It was written in 2022, and there are always world events and sad headlines, but things feel especially tense right now. For me, the song represents taking a breath, touching grass, and looking around to appreciate the world, even when it’s overwhelming and it’s tempting to check out. It’s important that we keep noticing the beautiful aspects of the earth and keep fighting to preserve them, even amid all the issues and changes, like the rise of AI data centres. I hope the song reminds people to take inventory of their lives, grounds them, and delivers a positive message. It’s not just about thinking, “at least the sky is pretty,” it goes deeper. It’s about what would make you stay and fight for a better world.

How do you take a breath?

I try not to look at social media. I have an app on my phone that blocks it at night and in the morning, and the first thing I do every day is go for a walk with my dog. That’s something I started doing in the past year, and it’s been really helpful, especially since musicians have to be quite online to promote their music. I focus on things that bring me joy from the inside, like playing music, discovering new songs, listening to podcasts, and reading books. It’s about finding ways to be present. I also go to dance classes. There’s a quote I like: "How you spend your days is how you spend your life." If I spend hours on my phone reading bad news and celebrity gossip, I’ll end up with a heavy feeling in my chest, and that’s how I’ll have spent my day. As much as I enjoy celebrity discourse, I try to bookend my day with more grounding activities. because I think, like,  the doom scroll of it all is just robbing you of the dopamine that can be released in a healthier way. I don't drink matcha, but I think about it as the crash of caffeine versus the slow release of Matcha, if you wanna get all your excitement for the day from reading about what Sabrina Carpenter did at Coachella that has ruined everyone's lives. That can be one form of entertainment, and it's really easy to get sucked into it. But it doesn't bring me lasting joy for the day, whereas when I go to my dance class, I just feel so good afterwards, and I'll come home and cook myself dinner while watching New Girl, I can think back on that way more fondly than my two hours I spent scrolling Twitter, you know? I have really invested in a vinyl collection this year. I do think it's that intentionality of it that feels so good to just slowly take out the disc and have to turn it around; it's more thoughtful than just Spotify shuffle. If I could get vinyls of my first EP one day, like, I'd be so, so happy.

Yeah, exactly. When you actually go to a gig or put on a record, you have to listen to the whole thing. If you're listening to Harry Styles, you're not skipping Matilda because you're too emotional for it. You have to sit there and do that, and I think that's sort of what you're getting at: you do have to be so chronically online when it's your job. But having the intentional things you can go back to that make you happy that aren't online.

Yeah, and I'm a big believer in album cohesion and stuff, so I love to notice that in albums. I think some are better than others in terms of being a no-skips album, but that's kind of the fun of it, is having to sit there anyway, and be like, okay, this was a choice.

Exactly, and that's what frustrates me: the number of people who click on an album and then skip the singles. The first time they listen to it, they skip the singles, or they play it on shuffle. Because an artist is sitting there and has taken the time to be  this is the story, this is the order. You can't do that. If you have the record in front of you, you listen to it as the artist intended.

That's why Adele got the function changed on Spotify a couple of years ago: people were playing her album 30, and it would just automatically shuffle when you pressed play. And she was like, " No, no, no, no, we're not gonna do that here. And she got the whole thing changed, which is cool.  I put thought into that with my EP as well. I was like, how is this story gonna play out? So… I have the opening concept as the first track, and it starts at the end of a relationship, then follows through to being unsure about jumping into something new. What I have around me right now is actually enough to stay here and be happy, as long as I notice. And then it ends with my single coming out next month, haunts you.  I start the EP in a very fragile place and end it in a much more confident tone; it's all very intentional, and I look forward to having people listen all the way through. Or at least I hope they will.

Beth will be hosting a release party for her EP in June, but for now, you can stream her new single Peace Comes With It here: