Australian indie-folk band The Paper Kites have made a transition over the years from a very folk-based sound in 2011’s Woodland to a much more ambient, indie sound with their new album in Twelvefour. The band’s final stop on their U.S. tour in support of the new album happened to be in New York City on Tuesday, and they made it a memorable one for the venue full of fans who came out to see the band that’s made a mark in the playlist circuit in recent years. Their new album touches and pulls from brilliant influences ranging from The War On Drugs, to Fleetwood Mac, and the band was more than ready to share some of their newly minted songs with a packed house who were eager to hear them.
The Paper Kites
Kicking the set with the Twelvefour’s dreamy riff-driven opening track in “Electric Indigo,” it makes for a perfect name to the style of music the band has really taken on recently, with a more electric indie feel to their songs that they hadn’t used in past projects. Following the opener up with the very Fleetwood Mac-esque “Renegade,” and a very Radiohead-esque “Bleed Confusion,” the easygoing, progression of their set, like their new album seemed to flow along perfectly. It was nice to hear that singer/guitarist Sam Bentley’s voice was a soft and welcoming in a live setting as you hear on their recordings, a stamp of authenticity to the band’s natural sound.
The Paper Kites
The Paper Kites
The Paper Kites
The band then went into their most popular song until this album in “Bloom,” which has been a popular choice among the coffeehouse/sleep/study time playlists since 2012. The acoustic/banjo driven ballad is still as catchy and organically beautiful live as one who’s a fan of the song would have hoped.
The Paper Kites
The Paper Kites
The Paper Kites
The band pulled out a few songs from 2013’s State to fill the middle of their set including “St. Clarity” and the haunting “Cold Kind Hand” before going into the very War on Drugs-esque “I’m Lying To You Cause I’m Lost.” It wasn’t until close to the end of the set until the band tore into the pulsating “Revelator Eyes,” which is arguably the core single off the new album. Like most of their songs, the core of their lyrical content depends heavily on the tonal balance between Bentley and his female counterpart in the band, guitarist/singer Christina Lacy, whose vocal tonality matches perfectly with Bentley and the band’s style of indie ballad songwriting.
The Paper Kites
The Paper Kites
Article: Tommy Shackleford
Photos: Alx Bear
