twelvefour | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 28 August 2015 | |||
Recorded | March–April 2015 | |||
Studio | Avast! Recording Company and Hall of Justice (Seattle, Washington) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:30 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Phil Ek | |||
The Paper Kites chronology | ||||
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Singles from twelvefour | ||||
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. [5] [6] The album's release was preceded by lead single "Electric Indigo", released on 19 June 2015. [7] Its video, directed by Matthew J Cox, was released on 13 July. [8] The second single, "Revelator Eyes", followed in September with a video directed by Dan Huiting. [9] "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. [5] due to the creativity lead singer and songwriter Sam Bentley felt arise during this time. [7] [10] For this reason, it has been referred to as a concept album. [5] 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, [7] incorporating electric guitars and synthesizers into their music. [11]
twelvefour debuted at number 8 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart on 5 September 2015. [12] The band embarked on a tour of Australia from 16 October to 8 November 2015 in support of the album. [13] They then toured the United States and Canada across November and December 2015, [11] 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, [7] but has yet to surface.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The AU Review | 9.5/10 [14] |
The Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
News.com.au | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
PPcorn | (positive) [17] |
Renowned for Sound | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone Australia | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Vulture Magazine | (positive) [20] |
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. [19] However, Hipwell criticised his often "insubstantial lyrics". [19]
The AU Review called the album a "fluid progression of sounds and ideas" as well as "[h]ypnotic, whimsical and otherworldly". [14] Jessica Morris of the US-based website PPcorn deemed the album "[c]omplex and delicate" as well as "profound". [17]
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". [18] 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". [20]
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". [15]
Writing for News.com.au , Mikey Cahill judged that the album is primarily devoid of egos—"what you hear is what you get". [16] 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". [16]
All lyrics are written by Sam Bentley; all music is composed by The Paper Kites
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Electric Indigo" | 3:43 |
2. | "Renegade" | 3:55 |
3. | "Bleed Confusion" | 4:21 |
4. | "Revelator Eyes" | 4:22 |
5. | "Neon Crimson" | 4:23 |
6. | "I'm Lying to You Cause I'm Lost" | 3:32 |
7. | "A Silent Cause" | 4:23 |
8. | "Woke Up from a Dream" | 4:45 |
9. | "Turns Within Me, Turns Without Me" | 3:53 |
10. | "Too Late" | 6:13 |
Credits adapted from album liner notes. [21]
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [12] | 8 |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Catalogue |
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Australia | 28 August 2015 | Wonderlick Entertainment / Sony Music Australia | LICK0014 | |
United States | Nettwerk | 0 6700 31087 2 0 |