Image Credit: Tim Harris

The Paper Kites are a band that have been able to collectively work together to cultivate a gorgeous sound within the music scene. With six studio albums currently released over the past decade and a seventh to come, it’s clear that the band has no intention of slowing down and is instead being able to continue creating from a place of refining their sound. In order to understand the process behind this record and where the group hopes to continue growing, I got to catch up with the band.

The album title If You Go, I Hope You Find It suggests a journey and a promise of hope. What inspired this title, and how does it capture the spirit of the record?

SAM BENTLEY: “We rehearse out at a farm in the Yarra Valley in Victoria, which is a beautiful part of the country. A lot of valleys, a lot of rolling hills, very green. I spent a great deal of the year writing there, working on this record. I would be writing and presenting these songs to the band, and we’d be working on them. There’s a lot of interesting things on that farm, but one of them is an old bus that sort of sits in this field, just totally rusted over.

We were kind of thinking of this album title, and I think that little phrase was suggested. Christina went and wrote it on the window of this bus, and it just kind of stayed there for months. And then we thought, actually, that could be like a great album cover.

We took a photo of it. So, that’s the cover that you see there. It’s still there, actually.”

You wrote and rehearsed this album on a farm in the Yarra Valley. How did working in that rural, wide-open environment influence the songwriting and overall vibe of the album?

CHRISTINA LACY:” Most of us in the band are pretty drawn to nature. We often find hikes or somewhere to walk and swim or bike ride on our days off on tour. In my life outside of band I try to spend as much time outside with my kids and it just feels to me like that’s where we are all supposed to be. For me, feeling connected to nature brings calm, creativity and really just helps everything make more sense. In saying that, I think it’s fairly understandable that if you’re wired that way, then a beautiful landscape and a place surrounded by nature is going to be a great place to create.”

“How did the songwriting process for If You Go, I Hope You Find It unfold? For example, did you write collaboratively at the farm or individually, and has your approach changed since past albums?”

SAM BENTLEY: “With our albums prior to this new record we hadn’t really made music with just the five of us for quite some time. There was a small degree of worry that we hadn’t really done anything that was just back to the five original members. We had become reliant on the skills of these friends (from At The Roadhouse and Roses) that we brought in to collaborate with. We toured At The Roadhouse for two years as an eight-piece band and the musicianship that the extra members brought to the band was just something that you don’t want to go without because it’s so great.

And so pulling it back to just five people, it felt like, are we still able to do this? 

Of course we can, but I’ll say that it felt very reassuring to hear these songs with just the five of us. And to remember that we do this because it does work with the five of us. And there is this kind of magic that happens.”

Did you experiment with any new instruments or production techniques on this album (such as strings, synthesizers, or analog recording methods)? How did those choices contribute to the album’s mood?

Sam Rasmussen: “We say it a lot – It’s all about the feel. Years ago we went through stages where we tried to bring musical complexity into everything but these days, I think you could say our songs are pretty simple. When recording, we always play together and capture whole takes. Usually, the first few takes are ‘correct’ but we may spend hours playing, and replaying the song until it feels right. It’s not about the right chords or timing, but the discussions we have are around things like expression, dynamics, vibe, charm and taste.”

You have come a long way since your early handmade EPs. Looking back, how do you think your sound and songwriting approach have changed over the years, and how is that reflected in this new album?

SAM BENTLEY: “The songwriter I am now and the songwriter I was in the early days, this is really one of the professions where you do kind of get better at as you get older.

 I look back on those songs and I am amazed at the simplicity of them. I think that can be a beautiful thing. Sometimes you can get too lost down, pushing yourself as an artist and trying to really break barriers.

 I’ve never been interested in that. I’ve always just tried to be a good songwriter. So I think in that regard, it hasn’t changed because first and foremost it’s been about the song.”

Some critics say this record brings the band back to your core identity. Was it a conscious choice to return to a simpler five-piece sound, or did that happen organically? In what ways do you feel your sound has matured?

SAM BENTLEY: “This record feels like a band remembering the things that sort of made them fall in love with playing together in the first place. Just the three of us, Dave, Christina and myself, singing together, Dave’s guitar playing, and then not really having the backup of a bigger band. Yeah, it was a really wonderful process.

Heading into the studio we were really leaning into the live tracking, getting in a room together and playing a song, listening back to it. The conversation was always like, how does it feel? Does the song feel good? And that’s the great thing with live tracking is if it doesn’t, you can just go and play it again.”

In the past you’ve explored different styles (like the rhythmic twelvefour album and the dreamy On the Corner Where You Live). How does If You Go, I Hope You Find It continue or diverge from those sonic chapters in your career?

SAM BENTLEY: “A lot of longevity doesn’t necessarily last past two or three records. Particularly as a band, a solo artist is a different thing, but as a band, you’ve got five different personalities that play, five different opinions that can often rub up against each other. And so we’ve been really, really intentional to try and get through and just keep putting our heads down and releasing music.

And here we are, about to release kind of our seventh record. It’s in a really nice rhythm now, where we’re not trying to chase any momentum or sound. The fans that come to our shows are really just music lovers, and they’ve kind of been brought into what we do.”

Do you have a project that has felt most defining to your sound and what is it like looking back on tracks like ‘Bloom’ that have gone Platinum, but continuing to grow from that point?

CHRISTINA LACY: “‘Bloom’ is a song for us that has actually been a real slow burn. It never really felt like a breakthrough single or a ‘hit’, it just slowly, slowly grew and spread until over the years it has become what it is now. We wrote it so long ago, it feels as if we were different people then, so it’s quite special that it still seems to be resonating with people today.

You’ve created “A Gathering on 57th” as a way to talk directly with fans about your projects. How has this close connection with listeners influenced your perspective on the music you make?

SAM BENTLEY: “So much of what this band has been about, and subsequently the community that has gathered around it – I have always liked to believe has been built from genuine connections. Whether it be the music, the shows or the people, there has always been a kinship and community around it all that we recognise. The ‘Gathering’ is a place we can communicate in a way that feels right to us – somewhere outside of the noise and the algorithms of social media.

It’s clear that Bentley and the other members of the band have been able to continue creating an environment for their fans to come together and connect both on social media and outside of it. With this record, the band has been able to dedicate their dedication not only to their craft but also to their respect and creative journeys with each other. To hear what this process has looked like, you can stream their brand-new record. If you go, I hope you find it on 23 January 2026 of 2026.”