The Paper Kites

The Paper Kites craft an Australian indie folk sound rooted in Melbourne, one that blends rich vocal harmonies, inward-looking lyrics, and wistful yet frequently expansive melodies. Mid-2010s traction arrived through States and the more experimental, pop-inflected Twelvefour. Recognition followed in the form of an ARIA Music Award nomination for their 2018 release On the Corner Where You Live; three years afterward they issued the duet-focused collection Roses, while 2023’s At the Roadhouse took shape during a month-long live residency in rural Victoria.

The group coalesced initially around Sam Bentley and Christina Lacy, who had already been writing and performing together since high school. In 2010 they completed the lineup by drawing in David Powys on guitar and banjo, Sam Rasmussen on bass and synth, and Josh Bentley on drums, each pulled from other Melbourne acts; this configuration recorded the debut single “Bloom.” Their 2011 EP Woodland, with its warm harmonic blend and acoustic-leaning indie folk-pop approach, steadily gained attention, leading to Australian headline dates and several prominent television song placements by early 2012. Rather than rush a full-length despite ample material, the band continued refining its live presentation and instead released the second EP Young North midway through that year.

States, the debut LP, surfaced in late 2013 and coincided with the group’s first North American visit, initially supporting Canadian act City & Colour before mounting its own headline run. For the follow-up the Paper Kites returned to the United States to collaborate with Seattle producer Phil Ek, whose credits include Fleet Foxes and Manchester Orchestra, resulting in a denser, synth-augmented aesthetic. Issued in late 2015, Twelvefour functioned as a concept album assembled exclusively between midnight and 4 a.m. The understated April 2018 album On the Train Ride Home concentrated on hushed acoustic material; originally envisioned as a double album, its second portion appeared separately in September as On the Corner Where You Live and earned the ARIA nomination for Best Adult Contemporary Album of the Year.

Roses, the fifth album, adopted a collaborative format in 2021, pairing the band with guests that included Aoife O'Donovan, Julia Stone, and Lucy Rose. The subsequent project immersed the group in the rural Victorian town of Campbells Creek, where they undertook an unannounced month-long residency at a local roadhouse, composing and tracking material during daylight hours while serving as the evening house band. The resulting 2023 studio album At the Roadhouse retained the immediacy of those nightly performances.