The Paper Kites

One Liner:  Lovely indie folk and lite rock full of harmony

Wikipedia Genre:  Indie rock, folk rock

Home: Melbourne

Poster Position: 15
Weekend Two Only.
Friday at 3:30.

T-Mobile Stage.

Thoughts:  Aussies!  Hooray for the Aussies!  I got to go to Australia when I was eight (terrible age to spend a bunch of money on a dumb kids going to see things he'll never appreciate - my memories are of a Toblerone bar I got at the hotel, a wild bird's nest made out of noodles I got to order at a Chinese restaurant, and some bits and pieces from the Sydney Zoo.  Dumb.) and so I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the land of the kangaroo.

Some of these folks were in high school together, and lead vocalist/guitarist Sam and keyboardist/guitarist Christina began making music and singing together back in high school.  Around 2010, they expanded the group and added the rest of these blokes.  Their 2010 single "Bloom" was their first big hit, getting a lot of attention online and through word of mouth.  It continues to be their biggest tune, with 578.4 million streams.  Pretty legit!

I feel almost certain that people do little pensive TikToks to this tune.  Really pretty stuff.  They even do a whistling part!  How cutesy is that?  At this point, they were selling out small venues all around Australia, and even got a song featured on the season 8 finale of Grey's Anatomy.  Since then, they've regularly received nominations for ARIA awards, winning in 2016 for Best Folk Album.

So, that tune was on their 2013 EP called Woodland.  After that, they have released a pretty steady stream of albums - 2013's States, 2015's twelvefour, 2018's On the Train Ride Home, 2018's On the Corner Where You Live, 2021's Roses, and 2023's At the Roadhouse.  The most recent album is really, truly lovely.  A little groovy, a little folky, a hint of country here and there.  But overall it is just super pretty.  The top track is "Till the Flame Turns Blue" (which I think is misspelled) with 6.1 million streams.

That steel guitar just adds a layer of mournfulness to the slow groove you get there.  Prior to this album, they had some adventures, but this new one feels like a return to form.  The 2021 one is a little too Cigarettes After Sex for my tastes.  Like slo-mo country-fied Lana Del Rey-hanging-with-Chris Isaak stuff.  And it has a million collaborators too, not just the one female singer.  The 2018 albums have some John Mayer-style guitars on there and kind of a soft-rock vibe to go along with more acoustic strummed beauties.  "Arms" is a standout there.  "Never Heard a Sound," from 2013's States sounds like some Crosby Stills Nash and Young from back in the day.  I've been just letting this one play all day.

I'd absolutely go see this play live.  Feels like a lovely way to spend an afternoon in the middle of the day.