Bethany Cosentino

As the lead singer/songwriter for the beloved California duo Best Coast, Bethany Cosentino earned praise for the band's stylishly lo-fi, sun-bleached brand of indie rock. Along with critical acclaim, they earned chart success with the first three of the band's albums all hitting the Top 20 of the Alternative Albums charts, and landing in the Top 60 of the Billboard 200. Over the course of the group's career, Cosentino matured both creatively and personally, a process she reflected upon after the break-up of Best Coast with her lyrically introspective, folk-rock-infused 2023 solo debut Natural Disaster. Born in 1986, Cosentino grew up in Los Angeles where she started out as a child actress. By her teens, however, she was writing songs and gaining an online following by posting her tracks on MySpace under the name Bethany Sharayah. She eventually formed the spacy experimental duo Pocahaunted with friend Amanda Brown, playing wordless, droning psychedelic pop and releasing several cassette-only albums produced by instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. Although Pocahaunted garnered some attention, Cosentino left the group to study journalism and creative writing at New York's Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. She left school in her second semester after becoming depressed and returned to California. There, she reconnected with Bruno and formed Best Coast. Drawing from a lo-fi blend of '50s and '60s pop, punk, and indie rock influences, the duo garnered buzz for their early EPs, signing with the Mexican Summer label and releasing their 2010 debut, Crazy for You. The album hit number seven on the Alternative Albums chart and cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. Tours followed, including stints with Wavves. Over the course of two more albums, 2012's The Only Place and 2015's California Nights, the band's sound evolved, taking on a bit more stadium polish. Both albums charted on the Billboard 200 and reached the Top Ten of the Alternative Albums chart. In 2017, Best Coast joined Paramore on tour, helping to raise their profile yet again. Around the same time, Cosentino got sober, a process she explicitly addressed on the group's fourth album, 2020's Always Tomorrow. It was also in 2020 that the lockdown from the COVID-19 pandemic brought Best Coast's tour to a halt. While on her own, Cosentino began working on songs that she felt weren't a good fit for the band. She and Bruno ultimately parted ways, putting Best Coast to rest. Soon after, she entered the studio with producer Butch Walker and in 2023 released her debut solo album, Natural Disaster. Anchored by the buoyant single "It's Fine," the album found Cosentino embracing a '90s-style folk-rock and Americana-inspired sound, as well as ruminating on issues like climate change and her own personal growth.
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