Bethany Cosentino to Release Debut Solo Album 'Natural Disaster'

Bethany Cosentino is thrilled to announce her debut solo album, entitled Natural Disaster, and set for release on July 28, 2023 via Concord Records.

Produced by Butch Walker, Natural Disaster, which was written in Nashville and Los Angeles, sees Cosentino departing from the understated indie-pop she's long delivered as frontwoman for Best Coast.

The album matches her signature lyrical reflections that made her one of the defining voices of the mid-Aughts with a radiant form of pop-rock inspired by many of her most essential influences (powerhouse singer/songwriter/guitarists like Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow, '90s country icons, the female-led acts on the lineup to Lilith Fair).

Intensely intimate yet rooted in universal truth, Natural Disaster ultimately reveals Cosentino as an artist with a rare capacity to transform the way we navigate the fast-changing world around us.

The first single from Natural Disaster is an incredible song called "It's Fine," which sets the tone for Cosentino's new material. It is the song Cosentino was born to write and sing, putting her incredible voice - rich and full - front and center to detail making sense of a world where there is none. A video for the song, directed by frequent collaborator Janell Shirtcliff, is out today as well.

In tandem with announcing her solo debut, Bethany Cosentino is also confirming that Best Coast will go on indefinite hiatus. About the decision, Cosentino says, "My identity as a human being, and as an artist, has been so wrapped up in Best Coast for over a decade. The decision to pause the project indefinitely, and explore a new side of myself, was a very difficult one to make - but it felt necessary for me.

Life is too short to not give yourself what you feel you need and want. I am excited about being just Bethany Cosentino for a while and figuring out who I am outside of the 'Bethany from Best Coast' box I've lived in for such a long time."

If you had asked Cosentino a few years ago if she was going to make a solo album, the answer would have been a quick "no." But then - everything changed. Literally - everything. The list is long and we all know it: a global pandemic; climate change ravaging the world; a diseased patriarchy stomping daily on democracy and basic human rights; countless national tragedies; a never-ending, pervasive sense of doom. It's against this backdrop that Cosentino was forced to take stock of it all and jump off the merry-go-round of countless album cycles and tours to say "what the f am I doing with my life?"

Putting herself into the world for public consumption at age 22 ultimately left Cosentino feeling stuck, perpetually being brought back to her early 20's no matter how many changes she made in her life. "I looked at myself long and hard in the mirror, and I realized that I too had been bringing myself back to that place," she says.

"I kept proclaiming to the world 'I've changed, I've evolved!'' but I hadn't gotten to the place I really wanted to be yet. It became really clear to me that I needed to push myself into a completely different direction. Because the road I was on was just ultimately taking me back to square one."

Fairy tales and Jungian psychology loosely call this "the hero's quest" - and it all begins the moment that the main character realizes they have to set out on a journey or expedition that will challenge them in a number of ways, ultimately pushing them to return as a transformed, evolved, different person.

For Cosentino, this moment happened when she finally decided to make a solo album. But, like everything in life, that doesn't mean it was easy. It took accepting that she could just be Bethany - rather than "Bethany from Best Coast" - and not only survive but ultimately thrive.

And so: Natural Disaster - the solo album whose title honored the state of the world, and, at times, Cosentino's internal process - was born. Produced by pop-rock virtuoso Butch Walker, and mainly recorded during a series of trips to Walker's Nashville studio, Natural Disaster sees Cosentino truly putting her voice front and center - literally and metaphorically - for the first time ever. It's an album of gritty luminosity, one that expands Cosentino's relatable point of view and showcases her growth as a songwriter and lyricist.

As she gets set to share Natural Disaster with the world, Cosentino hopes that the album might help others find their own way toward transformation and renewal. "When I look at all the artists I find most influential, the common thread is that they take risks and continue exploring different versions of themselves," she says.

"My goal is to keep growing and challenging myself and living outside any kind of box, to keep on evolving as an artist and a person. And if anyone's feeling stagnant, I hope this record inspires them to see what else life has to offer. It's really scary to take those risks and make big changes in your life, but what you find on the other side can be so magical."

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

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