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Twelvefour (marketed as twelvefour) is the second album by Australian band The Paper Kites, released on 28 August 2015 by Wonderlick Entertainment and Sony Music Australia.[1][2] The album's release was preceded by lead single "Electric Indigo", released on 19 June 2015.[3] Its video, directed by Matthew J Cox, was released on 13 July.[4] The second single, "Revelator Eyes", followed in September with a video directed by Dan Huiting.[5] "Renegade", the third single, was released along with a video in April 2016.

twelvefour
Studio album by The Paper Kites
Released	28 August 2015 (2015-08-28)
Recorded	March–April 2015
Studio	Avast! Recording Company and Hall of Justice (Seattle, Washington)
Genre	Indie rock folk rock
Length	43:30
Label	Wonderlick Sony Music Nettwerk
Producer	Phil Ek
The Paper Kites chronology
States (2013) twelvefour (2015) On the Train Ride Home (2018)
Singles from twelvefour
"Electric Indigo" Released: 19 June 2015 "Revelator Eyes" Released: 20 September 2015 "Renegade" Released: 11 April 2016 "Too Late" Released: December 2016

The album was written entirely between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m.[1] due to the creativity lead singer and songwriter Sam Bentley felt arise during this time.[3][6] For this reason, it has been referred to as a concept album.[1] The album was then recorded in Seattle with American producer Phil Ek over six weeks in March and April 2015. The band chose Ek to create a more upbeat sound compared to their previous releases,[3] incorporating electric guitars and synthesizers into their music.[7]

twelvefour debuted at number 8 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart on 5 September 2015.[8] The band embarked on a tour of Australia from 16 October to 8 November 2015 in support of the album.[9] They then toured the United States and Canada across November and December 2015,[7] and Europe in January and February 2016. A film directed by Cox depicting the process of making the album was announced for release later in 2015,[3] but has yet to surface.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The AU Review	9.5/10[10]
The Music	[11]
News.com.au	[12]
PPcorn	(positive)[13]
Renowned for Sound	[14]
Rolling Stone Australia	[15]
Vulture Magazine	(positive)[16]

Gareth Hipwell of Rolling Stone Australia gave the album three out of five stars and felt "Revelator Eyes" sounded as if "The muses of the witching hour [...] have breathed some hazy Eighties nostalgia" into Bentley's songwriting.[15] However, Hipwell criticised his often "insubstantial lyrics".[15] The AU Review called the album a "fluid progression of sounds and ideas" as well as "[h]ypnotic, whimsical and otherworldly".[10] Jessica Morris of the US-based website PPcorn deemed the album "[c]omplex and delicate" as well as "profound".[13]

Michael Smith of Renowned for Sound gave the album a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars, opining that the change to an upbeat style was a "logical evolution" of the band's sound, and commended "Bentley's consistently moving vocals to the sheer quality of the guitar riffs that give the songs their power".[14] Sara Tamim of Vulture Magazine was "fabulously yet not surprisingly impressed" by the band's second album; she also remarked positively on the interchange of styles and the "new, flurry sound with intergalactic guitar vibes" of opening track "Electric Indigo".[16]

In a 4 out of 5 stars review, Roshan Clarke of The Music labelled the album a "gorgeous listening experience" and expressed that the "glowing album cover and moody track names like 'Electric Indigo' reflect th[e] nocturnal theme [of the record], but the warm instrumentation transcends any particular time of day".[11] Writing for News.com.au, Mikey Cahill judged that the album is primarily devoid of egos—"what you hear is what you get".[12] Rating the album 3 out of 5 stars, Cahill went on to state that the band sound "calm and delirious" on "Bleed Confusion" and that "Woke Up from a Dream" is "timeless Americana".[12]

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes.[17]

The Paper Kites

• Josh Bentley – drums, percussion
• Sam Bentley – lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, keyboards, writing and design
• Christina Lacy – harmony vocals, guitars
• David Powys – backing vocals, banjo, lap steel
• Sam Rasmussen – bass guitar, synthesizer

Technical personnel

• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Phil Ek – engineering, mixing and production
• Cameron Nicklaus – assistant engineer

Artwork

• Mark Bentley – design for twelvefour sign
• Jackson Grant – photography
• Jefferton James – artwork editing, design and layout

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8]	8
Australian Artist Albums (ARIA)[18]	1

References

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