Twelvefour

Last updated

twelvefour
TwelvefourThe PaperKites.jpeg
Studio album by
Released28 August 2015 (2015-08-28)
RecordedMarch–April 2015
Studio Avast! Recording Company and Hall of Justice
(Seattle, Washington)
Genre
Length43:30
Label
Producer Phil Ek
The Paper Kites chronology
States
(2013)
twelvefour
(2015)
On the Train Ride Home
(2018)
Singles from twelvefour
  1. "Electric Indigo"
    Released: 19 June 2015 [1]
  2. "Revelator Eyes"
    Released: 20 September 2015 [2]
  3. "Renegade"
    Released: April 2016 [3]
  4. "Too Late"
    Released: December 2016 [4]

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.

Contents

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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The AU Review9.5/10 [14]
The MusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
News.com.au Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [16]
PPcorn(positive) [17]
Renowned for Sound Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [18]
Rolling Stone Australia Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [19]
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]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Sam Bentley; all music is composed by The Paper Kites

No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes. [21]

The Paper Kites

Technical personnel

Artwork

Charts

Chart performance for Twelvefour
Chart (2015)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [12] 8

Release history

Release history and details for Twelvefour
RegionDateFormatLabelCatalogue
Australia28 August 2015 Wonderlick Entertainment / Sony Music Australia LICK0014
United States Nettwerk 0 6700 31087 2 0

References

  1. "The Paper Kites Announce New Album 'Twelvefour'". Music Feeds . 19 June 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  2. "Watch: The Paper Kites - Revelator Eyes". Pilerats. September 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  3. "The Paper Kites Announce National Tour, Unveil Cinematic New 'Renegade' Video". Music Feeds . 12 April 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  4. "The Paper Kites - Too Late (Official Music Video)". YouTube . December 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "JB Hi-Fi | twelvefour PAPER KITES, THE". JB Hi-Fi . Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  6. "twelvefour by The Paper Kites on iTunes". Apple Inc. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "The Paper Kites – Album Number Two". The Paper Kites. 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  8. "The Paper Kites – Electric Indigo (Official Music Video)". The Paper Kites on YouTube . Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  9. "The Paper Kites – Revelator Eyes (Official Video)". The Paper Kites on YouTube. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  10. Williams, Tom (19 June 2015). "The Paper Kites Announce New Album 'Twelvefour' – Music News, Reviews, Interviews and Culture – Music Feeds". Music Feeds . Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  11. 1 2 "The Paper Kites – The Paper Kites Announce North America/Canada Tour". The Paper Kites. 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Australiancharts.com – The Paper Kites – twelvefour". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  13. "The Paper Kites – The Paper Kites Video + Australian Tour". The Paper Kites. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  14. 1 2 Macdonald, Emmylou (24 August 2015). "Album Review: The Paper Kites – Twelvefour (2015) | the AU review". The AU Review. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  15. 1 2 Clarke, Roshan (19 August 2015). "The Paper Kites twelvefour Roshan Clarke theMusic.com.au | Australia's Premier Music News & Reviews Website". The Music. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 Adams, Cameron & Cahill, Mikey (10 September 2015). "Latest Album Reviews: Duran Duran, Stereophonics, The Paper Kites, Natalie Imbruglia & Jarryd James". News.com.au . Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  17. 1 2 Morris, Jessica (27 August 2015). "The Paper Kites: 'twelvefour' Track-By-Track Album Review". PPcorn. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  18. 1 2 Smith, Michael (3 September 2015). "Renowned for Sound | Album Review: The Paper Kites – twelvefour". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 "Rolling Stone Australia — The Paper Kites – twelvefour". Rolling Stone Australia . 25 August 2015. Archived from the original on 30 August 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  20. 1 2 Tamim, Sara (28 August 2015). "Vulture Magazine – Album Review: The Paper Kites' twelvefour". Vulture Magazine. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  21. twelvefour liner notes (CD). Sony Music Australia, Wonderlick Entertainment. 28 August 2015.