{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = twelvefour | type = studio | artist = The Paper Kites | cover = TwelvefourThe PaperKites.jpeg | alt = | released = {{Start date|2015|08|28|df=yes}} | recorded = March–April 2015 | studio = Avast! Recording Company and Hall of Justice<br />(Seattle, Washington) | genre = * Indie rock * folk rock | length = 43:30 | label = * Wonderlick * Sony Music * Nettwerk | producer = Phil Ek | prev_title = States | prev_year = 2013 | next_title = On the Train Ride Home | next_year = 2018 | misc = {{Singles | name = twelvefour | type = studio | single1 = Electric Indigo | single1date = 19 June 2015<ref>{{cite web|url= https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/the-paper-kites-announce-new-album-twelvefour/ |title= The Paper Kites Announce New Album 'Twelvefour'| website= Music Feeds|date=19 June 2015|access-date= 8 August 2023}}</ref> | single2 = Revelator Eyes | single2date = 20 September 2015<ref>{{cite web|url= http://pilerats.com/music/bands/watch-paper-kites-revelator-eyes/ |title= Watch: The Paper Kites - Revelator Eyes |website=Pilerats|date= September 2015 |access-date= 8 August 2023}}</ref> | single3 = Renegade | single3date = April 2016<ref>{{cite web|url=https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/paper-kites-announce-national-tour-unveil-cinematic-new-renegade-video/ |title= The Paper Kites Announce National Tour, Unveil Cinematic New 'Renegade' Video | website= Music Feeds|date=12 April 2016 |access-date= 8 August 2023}}</ref> | single4 = Too Late | single4date = December 2016<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Ix05Le7a4 |title= The Paper Kites - Too Late (Official Music Video) |website=YouTube|date= December 2016|access-date= 8 August 2023}}</ref> }} }}
'''''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.<ref name="JB">{{cite web|url=https://www.jbhifi.com.au/music/browse/alternative/twelvefour/730523/|title=JB Hi-Fi {{!}} twelvefour PAPER KITES, THE|publisher=JB Hi-Fi|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="iTunes">{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/twelvefour/1003574039|title=twelvefour by The Paper Kites on iTunes|date=28 August 2015 |publisher=Apple Inc.|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> The album's release was preceded by lead single "Electric Indigo", released on 19 June 2015.<ref name="19 June">{{cite web|url=http://www.thepaperkites.com.au/910/|title=The Paper Kites – Album Number Two|publisher=The Paper Kites|date=19 June 2015|access-date=13 October 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923081030/http://www.thepaperkites.com.au/910/|archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> Its video, directed by Matthew J Cox, was released on 13 July.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWF5_wdqQj0|title=The Paper Kites – Electric Indigo (Official Music Video)|publisher=The Paper Kites on YouTube|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> The second single, "Revelator Eyes", followed in September with a video directed by Dan Huiting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fi4T-yR8tM|title=The Paper Kites – Revelator Eyes (Official Video)|publisher=The Paper Kites on YouTube|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> "Renegade", the third single, was released along with a video in April 2016.
The album was written entirely between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m.<ref name="JB"/> due to the creativity lead singer and songwriter Sam Bentley felt arise during this time.<ref name="19 June"/><ref name="Music Feeds">{{cite web|url=http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/the-paper-kites-announce-new-album-twelvefour/|title=The Paper Kites Announce New Album 'Twelvefour' – Music News, Reviews, Interviews and Culture – Music Feeds|work=Music Feeds|author=Williams, Tom|date=19 June 2015|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> For this reason, it has been referred to as a concept album.<ref name="JB"/> 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,<ref name="19 June"/> incorporating electric guitars and synthesizers into their music.<ref name="24 August">{{cite web|url=http://www.thepaperkites.com.au/942/|title=The Paper Kites – The Paper Kites Announce North America/Canada Tour|publisher=The Paper Kites|date=24 August 2015|access-date=13 October 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923081340/http://www.thepaperkites.com.au/942/|archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref>
''twelvefour'' debuted at number 8 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart on 5 September 2015.<ref name="ARIA"/> The band embarked on a tour of Australia from 16 October to 8 November 2015 in support of the album.<ref name="14 July">{{cite web|url=http://www.thepaperkites.com.au/930/|title=The Paper Kites – The Paper Kites Video + Australian Tour|publisher=The Paper Kites|date=14 July 2015|access-date=13 October 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923081755/http://www.thepaperkites.com.au/930/|archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> They then toured the United States and Canada across November and December 2015,<ref name="24 August"/> 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,<ref name="19 June"/> but has yet to surface.
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = ''The AU Review'' | rev1Score = 9.5/10<ref name="The AU Review"/> | rev2 = ''The Music'' | rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="TheMusic"/> | rev3 = ''News.com.au'' | rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="News.com.au"/> | rev4 = ''PPcorn'' | rev4Score = (positive)<ref name="PPcorn"/> | rev5 = ''Renowned for Sound'' | rev5Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Renowned"/> | rev6 = ''Rolling Stone Australia'' | rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Rolling Stone"/> | rev7 = ''Vulture Magazine'' | rev7Score = (positive)<ref name="Vulture Magazine"/> }} 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.<ref name="Rolling Stone">{{cite web|url=http://rollingstoneaus.com/reviews/post/the-paper-kites-twelvefour/2135|title=Rolling Stone Australia — The Paper Kites – twelvefour|work=Rolling Stone Australia|date=25 August 2015|access-date=13 October 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830003329/http://rollingstoneaus.com/reviews/post/the-paper-kites-twelvefour/2135|archive-date=August 30, 2015}}</ref> However, Hipwell criticised his often "insubstantial lyrics".<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
The AU Review called the album a "fluid progression of sounds and ideas" as well as "[h]ypnotic, whimsical and otherworldly".<ref name="The AU Review">{{cite web|url=http://www.theaureview.com/albums/the-paper-kites-twelvefour-2015-lp|title=Album Review: The Paper Kites – Twelvefour (2015) {{!}} the AU review|work=The AU Review|author=Macdonald, Emmylou|date=24 August 2015|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> Jessica Morris of the US-based website ''PPcorn'' deemed the album "[c]omplex and delicate" as well as "profound".<ref name="PPcorn">{{cite web|url=http://ppcorn.com/us/the-paper-kites-twelvefour-track-by-track-album-review/|title=The Paper Kites: 'twelvefour' Track-By-Track Album Review|work=PPcorn|author=Morris, Jessica|date=27 August 2015|access-date=13 June 2018}}</ref>
Michael Smith of ''Renowned for Sound'' gave the album a perfect score of five out of five 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".<ref name="Renowned">{{cite web|url=http://renownedforsound.com/index.php/album-review-the-paper-kites-twelvefour/|title=Renowned for Sound {{!}} Album Review: The Paper Kites – twelvefour|work=Renowned for Sound|author=Smith, Michael|date=3 September 2015|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Vulture Magazine">{{cite web|url=http://vulturemagazine.com.au/album-review-the-paper-kites-twelvefour/|title=Vulture Magazine – Album Review: The Paper Kites' twelvefour|work=Vulture Magazine|author=Tamim, Sara|date=28 August 2015|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref>
Rating the album four out of five stars, Roshan Clarke of ''The Music'' labeled 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".<ref name="TheMusic">{{cite web|url=http://themusic.com.au/music/albumreviews/2015/08/19/the-paper-kites-twelvefour-roshan-clerke/|title=The Paper Kites twelvefour Roshan Clarke theMusic.com.au {{!}} Australia's Premier Music News & Reviews Website|work=The Music|author=Clarke, Roshan|date=19 August 2015|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref>
Writing for ''News.com.au'', Mikey Cahill judged that the album is primarily devoid of egos—"what you hear is what you get".<ref name="News.com.au">{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/latest-album-reviews-duran-duran-stereophonics-the-paper-kites-natalie-imbruglia-jarryd-james/story-e6frfn09-1227521433329|title=Latest Album Reviews: Duran Duran, Stereophonics, The Paper Kites, Natalie Imbruglia & Jarryd James|website=News.com.au|author1=Adams, Cameron|author2=Cahill, Mikey|name-list-style=amp|date=10 September 2015|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> Rating the album three out of five 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".<ref name="News.com.au"/>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_lyrics = Sam Bentley | all_music = The Paper Kites
| title1 = Electric Indigo | length1 = 3:43 | title2 = Renegade | length2 = 3:55 | title3 = Bleed Confusion | length3 = 4:21 | title4 = Revelator Eyes | length4 = 4:22 | title5 = Neon Crimson | length5 = 4:23 | title6 = I'm Lying to You Cause I'm Lost | length6 = 3:32 | title7 = A Silent Cause | length7 = 4:23 | title8 = Woke Up from a Dream | length8 = 4:45 | title9 = Turns Within Me, Turns Without Me | length9 = 3:53 | title10 = Too Late | length10 = 6:13 }}
==Personnel== Credits adapted from album liner notes.<ref name="Notes">''twelvefour'' liner notes (CD). Sony Music Australia, Wonderlick Entertainment. 28 August 2015.</ref>
===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== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+Chart performance for ''Twelvefour'' |- ! scope="col"| Chart (2015) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Australia|8|artist=The Paper Kites|album=twelvefour|rowheader=true|access-date=13 October 2015|refname="ARIA"}} |}
==Release history== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |+Release history and details for ''Twelvefour'' ! scope="col"| Region ! scope="col"| Date ! scope="col"| Format ! scope="col"| Label ! scope="col"| Catalogue |- ! scope="row"| Australia |rowspan="2"| 28 August 2015 |rowspan="2"| {{hlist|CD|LP|Digital download|streaming}} | Wonderlick Entertainment / Sony Music Australia | LICK0014 |- ! scope="row"| United States | Nettwerk | 0 6700 31087 2 0 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2015 albums Category:The Paper Kites albums Category:Sony Music Australia albums Category:Wonderlick Entertainment albums Category:Nettwerk Records albums