Indie-folk five piece The Paper Kites have announced the release of their second album, twelvefour, set for August 28. It will be the Melbourne band’s first offering since 2013’s successful full-length debut, States. Frontman Sam Bentley has ambitiously turned an artistic concept into an album and this desire to experiment and push the boundaries of his art, and possibly his mind, will ultimately hold the band in good stead. He had this to say about the album:
“The album is a concept record, based around a theory that an artist’s creative peak is between the hours of midnight and 4am. That idea turned into the heart of the project, so every night I’d sit down when the clock ticked over to midnight and just start writing.
I got to the end and thought, I’m never doing that again. It was wild to write until you are so tired that nothing sounded too over-worked – songs didn’t feel restricted by a commonly analytical brain. This record is the sound of five people trying to make something they’re proud of… And we really are.”
His attitude reflects a devotion to his craft and a perfectionist desire for exploration. twelvefour is available for pre-order now and a free download of lead single, Electric Indigo, accompanies it. Grammy-nominated producer Phil Ek (having previously worked with the likes of Fleet Foxes and The Shins) was also brought in to work on the record.
The announcement was also supplemented by a trailer, created by filmmaker Matthew Fox, who recorded the novel artistic process of the album’s creation. Here it is: