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THE PAPER KITES
release highly anticipated
fifth studio album
“ROSES”

+ Announce
National Tour

TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 15TH MARCH 9:00 AM LOCAL TIME

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Ever quiet achievers, premier Australian indie-folk act The Paper Kites today release their fifth studio album Roses via Wonderlick/Sony Music Entertainment Australia. The band are thrilled to announce they are hitting the road this August 2021 for a National tour of Australia. Tickets are on sale Monday, March 15th at 9:00 am local time.

With their brand of weather-beaten ballads and rain drenched pop, the 10 track album bleeds with gentle significance, full of power and sentimentality. “If you were to walk along a busy street, and something caught your eye – something small that had no business being there-but you picked it up and put it in your pocket, you couldn’t say why-but for some reason you kept it with you – to me, that’s our music.”

LISTEN TO “ROSES” HERE

The first collaborative release from the band, the album features a powerhouse of female accompanists in Lucy Rose (UK), Julie Stone (AU), Nadia Reid (NZ), Maro (PT), Aoife O’Donovan (US), Rosie Carney (IE) Ainslie Wills (AU), Amanda Bergman (SE), Lydia Cole (NZ) and Gena Rose Bruce (AU)

“I had written these songs and had always wanted to do an album like this, but I remember almost scrapping the whole project because it felt too hard. It was about finding the right voices for the songs – artists that couldn’t just sing but had something deep and moving in the way they sang – and that’s not every singer – it’s rare.”

Produced by Sam Bentley and Tom Iansek (#1 Dads, Big Scary), Roses is a deeply moving collection of songs, helmed by a cherished selection of artists. “It’s an album of duets – for lack of a better word,” Sam Bentley explains. “A collection of songs we had written and wanted to record with these artists.”  An alluring, dynamic and diverse company, the Roses vocalists were handpicked by the band to feature on the new album. “It was first and foremost about finding the voices and artists we felt were right for each song.”

Roses opens with “Walk Above The City,” featuring prolific Portuguese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maro. The track’s harmonies glisten, coated with soul-soothing vocals and thoughtfully layered instrumentals, accompanied by the signature songwriting artistry the Australian indie-folk outfit are known for. “I remember Maro was the first artist that agreed to be on the album, which was perfect because she was the first artist in a long time who really stopped me in my tracks when I heard her sing. We saw her play in Munich with Jacob Collier and I’d never heard anything like her voice. I didn’t find out until we connected a few months later that she was a fan of our band. It was really special to do that song with her.”

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“Climb On Your Tears” features Grammy award winning US bluegrass artist Aoife O’Donovan, who as well her solo albums is well known as the lead singer of the bluegrass/string band Crooked Still and has featured on records with Chris Thile & Yo-Yo Ma. “We were really lucky to have Aoife, she’s an American treasure and such a beautiful voice, for some reason I felt we needed a bluegrass singer on that song even though it wasn’t indicative of the genre-but she really loved the song and was excited to be involved, her voice is really amazing – you can hear that bluegrass soul in her singing.”

New Zealand folk queen Nadia Reid features on “Take Me Home,” Bentley recalls the challenges of trying to record an album as the world shut down, “We managed to fly Nadia over to Melbourne to record that song just before both of our countries closed their borders-we didn’t know it was coming, shehad just released her third album and had a huge tour lined up that she had to cancel. I don’t think she knew that was the last time she’d get to travel internationally or record in a studio that year, but I’m certainly glad we could get her here to do that song. There’s something really moving in that song.”

Similarly, much loved Melbourne artists Ainslie Wills & Gena Rose Bruce were both able to record in the studio with the band before the city was locked down. The band reached out to all corners of the globe to their collaborators, some long time friends like New Zealand’s Lydia Cole on their song “Dearest.” “Lydia is truly one of my favourite songwriters, I’d been looking for a reason to have her involved on one of our records for a while, but this was the first time we were able to. For her and all of these artists, I hope this album can also be a gateway into discovering their music.”

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Australian legend Julia Stone, better known as one half of brother/sister duo Angus & Julia Stone features on the conversational duet “Without Your Love.” “I grew up listening to Julia’s music and some of her work was really pivotal in turning me down the road I went-so to approach her and have her love that song and want to sing on it was an amazing full circle moment she’s such an important figure of the folk revival in Australia and I don’t think we would be a band without them leading the way. It was a real honour to work with her.”

“For All You Give” was recorded with UK songstress Lucy Rose in a small upstairs room while the band was on tour in Brighton on tour last year. “I remember Rosie Carney recording “By My Side” on the floor of her London flat she was so concerned that she had no idea what she was doing she wasn’t used to having to record without an engineer present and I think felt it wouldn’t sound good enough-but it’s remarkable what we can achieve these days in terms of collaborations and home recording technology from the other side of the world-she sent her vocals over and they were so beautiful.”

As well as approaching artists that they knew and loved for the album, certain songs gave way to discovering new artists. Such was the case with Sweden’s Amanda Bergman. “Crossfire” was a song we got stuck on, I couldn’t find a vocalist that I felt was right for the song, and I was just scouring the depths of Spotify but couldn’t find anything until one day I somehow came across Amanda Bergman. Her music is so good, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of her before. I managed to get in contact with her, she lives out on a farm in remote Sweden, and she really liked the song and luckily they had a studio on the farm so she recorded it and sent it to us-her voice is incredible-so much depth and soul, we were so glad to have her on that song.”

From their very first EP, 2011’s Woodland, The Paper Kites had found a devoted audience for their sound, and by early 2012 they were headlining shows across Australia. Along with their recent platinum certification in Australia, the band have also received gold and platinum certification in Canada, The Netherlands, Italy, and New Zealand for their single “Bloom.”

The Paper Kites have since opened for the likes of Passenger, City and Colour and Bombay Bicycle Club, and completed a number of local and international headline tours, selling out rooms like the Fonda Theatre (Los Angeles), Paradiso (Amsterdam), and the historic Forum Theatre (Melbourne). Now, The Paper Kites are set to embark on their headline National tour this August across Australia. Tickets are on sale Monday, March 15th at 9 am local time, see dates below.

The Paper Kites have solidified their position as one of Australia’s premier indie-folk acts.

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“Roses” is now available on all streaming services.

“ROSES”
track list:

1. Walk Above the City (feat. MARO)
2. Climb on Your Tears (feat. Aoife O’Donovan)
3. Dearest (feat. Lydia Cole)
4. Steal My Heart Away (feat. Ainslie Wills)
5. Without Your Love (feat. Julia Stone)
6. Crossfire (feat. Amanda Bergman)
7. Lonely (feat. Gena Rose Bruce)
8. Take Me Home (feat. Nadia Reid)
9. For All You Give (feat. Lucy Rose)
10. By My Side (feat. Rosie Carney)

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AMNPLIFY – DB