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Melbourne Indie Folk band, The Paper Kites have released their latest single St. Clarity and will be following it up with a national headline tour. Shortly after, The Paper Kites will be heading over to the US, which will be their first time performing on US soil.
The quintet, Sam Bentley, Christina Lacy, Dave Powys, Sam Rasmussen and Josh Bentley have built up a loyal fan base and incredibly have over six million views on YouTube.
Sam B and Sam R took time out to chat with Music News about their upcoming tour and supporting City and Color in the USA.
Music News - Can you tell me about the early days of The Paper Kites? How did the band form?
Sam B - We don't really have an exciting band forming story; it was really just an experiment to start off with. Christina and I needed to expand our little acoustic duo line up and pulled in our friends. Dave, Sam Rasmussen and myself were all playing in different bands at the time and Christina and I had just been playing around locally, nothing serious. We all knew each other and had seen each other play. As we just needed a few extra players for a show we were doing, we pulled them in and we seemed to get a pretty good response. So it went from there to 'let's try another show' and then 'let's record something' and so on.
Music News - You just released your latest single St Clarity, can you tell me about that?
Sam B - St Clarity is a song about seeing things from an angle you haven't seen it before, and the clarity in finally seeing it that way. We were really keen to release that song first. It's hard when it's such an eclectic sounding record to choose the right song to release, everything you put out pushes a different idea of you to your fans. But we felt like St Clarity had the right vibe, it was a bit dark and a bit moody but wasn't too far from what we've done previously. There's a few songs that people will associate with their current idea of what 'The Paper Kites' sound like, but at the same time there's definitely some left wing tracks in there. It's always good to stretch a few perceptions.
Sam R - St Clarity was a song that we really wanted to release first. It always felt right to us that we share it before the rest of the songs. We also ended up flying a 'bubble artist' from France to feature in the accompanying film clip!
Music News - Which artists have inspired and influenced you?
Sam B - Everyone in the band has their own musical influences that they draw on. I really love Elbow and I love their arrangements and Guy Garvey's voice, I've been listening to a lot of Nick Drake too. But it really depends on the sort of music you want to write and what you want to get across in a song. I think that effects what influences you.
Sam R - We've been really fortunate to tour with some quality acts (Boy & Bear, Josh Pyke, Bombay Bicycle club) and every time we do, we come away inspired to grow our musicality and performances.
Music News - The Paper Kites will be touring Australia throughout August and September and will then head over to the US. This will be your first time performing on US soil. Can you describe what this incredible achievement feels like?
Sam B - Yeah it's pretty exciting to be heading over to the US. Half of us have never been there before so that's cool, we're not sure what to expect. For an Australian band to be opening for City & Colour and playing some of the venues we're playing is huge. But even in Australia some of the venues were doing are the biggest we've played. I think we're all keen to take the new music on the road to new places and bigger places.
Music News - You have build up a loyal fan base and have over six million YouTube views. What do you attribute this success to?
Sam B - There's no one person that's responsible for it I think. Particularly with a platform like YouTube we just place a lot of importance on making interesting videos. The rest is really just people sharing it around. We just try and match up a song with something that visually sits well with it, and isn't just a band playing in a room.
Sam R - It’s certainly really exciting! Most of us haven't even been to the US or Canada before so it will be an exciting couple of months! After supporting City and Colour for a few weeks we will play a string of our own shows.
Music News - What is your favorite thing to see in the audience, when you're on stage?
Sam B - I've seen some strange things from the front. I got contact lenses a while ago and couldn’t see anything; so to be able to see now is great ha-ha. I've seen couples making out, I've seen that really tall guy that should really be standing at the back, I've seen people crying down the front - that's always something interesting to see. I suppose to have people so connected to a song is the ultimate flattery as a writer, so I'm fine with it.
Sam R - It may seem like we are 'seasoned performers' but to be honest, we still get overwhelmed when people turn up to our shows! So to answer you question, our favourite thing is simply having an audience.
Music News- What is next for The Paper Kites?
Sam B - We'll be back in Australia from the US mid November and we'll probably have a bit of a break, but festival season is coming up so we may not be resting that long. There's been talk of a maiden voyage to Europe potentially next year so we'll see.
Sam R - Once we return from overseas we will have a little break before playing a few summer festivals. There will also be some more exciting tour announcements.
View the video for St Clarity here: youtube.com/watch?v=W5nrAHk_x8M
NEW SINGLE | ST CLARITY | AVAILABLE ON ITUNES NOW
NEW ALBUM | STATES | SET FOR RELEASE LATE AUGUST, 2013
NATIONAL TOUR SHOW DATES | ON SALE NOW
www.thepaperkites.com.au
www.facebook.com/thepaperkitesband
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Tinie Tempah has opened up to NME about being committed to supporting the UK’s grassroots venues, and plans to drop what could be his first new album in nearly 10 years.
The London singer, rapper and producer caught up with us on the red carpet for the 2026 Ivor Novellos, where he is a member of the Ivors board and works to “continue to uplift and promote and protect songwriters” across the country.
Speaking about how the industry has changed since then, the rapper – real name Patrick Okogwu – explained how he and countless others owe their success to the grassroots venues across the country.
As a longtime supporter of the Music Venue Trust and their efforts to help protect grassroots gig spaces, Tempah has joined their bill for Everywhere At Once – a festival taking place at hundreds of vital venues across the UK next month.
“When I think about my time coming up, I think about the 10,000 hours that I put into going around the UK and performing in all the small venues from 100 capacity to 500 capacity,” Tinie said. “I think of all the times I got cheered, all the times I got booed, all the times there was no one there, or when there was one or two people in the crowd.
“I think it was really my rite of passage, because it helped me to build a core fan base, most of whom have stuck with me to this day,” he added. “Obviously we now have social media and you can cast your net out into the wider world, but there is something so important about being in front of people in real life.
“Think about all the scenes that the UK has been able to bring to the forefront over the years – they typically start underground and they typically start in places and spaces like that. So if we lose these spaces, I worry for the next generation of artists.”
He continued: “On top of that, live music is where a lot of musicians make the lion’s share of their income, so if we don’t have these venues to perform in, we’re screwed. Considering how much UK music has impacted around the world, it’s almost our duty as the British population to preserve some of these venues and spaces. Some of them should be institutions.”
Despite years of hard gigging, he has not released any new music since 2020, when he dropped the single ‘Top Winners. His last album was 2017’s ‘Youth’.
Speaking to NME at the Ivors, the ‘Written In The Stars’ singer revealed that he has finally completed work on new music with a renewed and sharpened focus.
“I took a long hiatus and I just went to figure out my life. But I’m definitely back now,” he shared. “There’s a lot of new music coming your way. I’m going to drop the project in September, so I’m super excited for people to hear that and take it in.”
“A lot of it is inspired by what I was just talking about: nightlife culture,” he continued, adding that it will be an album that takes listeners “on a journey through the night from the start – when you even have the idea of wanting to go out – all the way to the messy 4am that we all know and we’ve all experienced.”
“I’m super excited for people to hear it. I’ve worked super hard on it. I’m super proud of it as well.”
More details about the new release are expected to be shared soon, with Tinie Tempah playing at intimate venues across Newcastle, Norwich and Southampton as part of the Everywhere At Once festival next month.
Others on the bill include Becky Hill and The Lathums, and the festival is being spearheaded by Music Venue Trust, The National Lottery, Save Our Scene, and Association of Independent Promoters. Audiences will be given the opportunity to help support various music charities too, with donations distributed to War Child, Nordoff and Robbins, Help Musicians UK and Teenage Cancer Trust. Find remaining tickets and more information here.
The news of the festival’s launch arrived at a vital time for the UK’s live music sector, as reports show that 30 grassroots venues were lost forever between July 2024 and July 2025 – and last year alone saw more than half of those remaining making no profit, with over 6,000 jobs lost.
There is currently an ongoing push for a ticket levy to be introduced, which would see smaller venues and rising talent across the country receive a contribution from arena and stadium gigs to ensure their survival. The pressure is now on for the live music industry to ensure that 50 per cent of these shows are voluntarily paying in by June 2026, or else the government will step in to make it mandatory by law.
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