The Paper Kites will return in January 2026 with their seventh studio album, If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, a record that signals another carefully measured evolution for one of Australia’s most internationally consistent alternative folk acts. Scheduled for release on 23 January 2026 via Nettwerk Music Group, the album arrives after more than a decade of steady growth, touring endurance and creative restlessness.
Rather than chasing reinvention, the Melbourne band has leaned into intimacy and reflection. The album is positioned as a deeply personal work, shaped by themes of nature, healing, hope and emotional clarity. It follows a period of intense live performance around At The Roadhouse, and reflects a band deliberately slowing the pace to reassess what matters musically and emotionally.
Much of If You Go There, I Hope You Find It was written on a farm in Melbourne’s Yarra Valley, a location that informed both the mood and lyrical framing of the songs. The rural setting allowed space for reflection, drawing the band back toward the quiet emotional core that first connected them with audiences in the early 2010s.
Recording took place at Melbourne’s Sing Sing Studios, a familiar creative environment in the band’s history. The album was mixed by Jon Low, whose resume includes work with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, adding a subtle contemporary polish without overwhelming the band’s organic sound. The result is a record that values restraint, clarity and atmosphere over excess.
The album rollout began in September 2025 with lead single Every Town, a song that framed the album’s reflective direction. Rather than functioning as a statement piece, the track acted as an open door into the record’s emotional landscape.
When The Lavender Blooms, introducing a guitar-driven arrangement inspired by 1990s textures while remaining firmly rooted in the band’s melodic sensibilities.
December 2025 brought Change Of The Wind, accompanied by a music video filmed on the same farm where much of the album was written. Another standout, Shake Off The Rain, has been described as rain-soaked but hopeful, reinforcing the album’s balance between melancholy and optimism.
If You Go There, I Hope You Find It features ten tracks, sequenced to feel like a single unfolding journey rather than a collection of singles.
Tracklist
Morning Gum
Change Of The Wind
When The Lavender Blooms
Stormwall
A Word I Needed More
Shake Off The Rain
Every Town
Strongly In Your Arms
Deep (In The Plans We Made)
Borne By You
Each song contributes to a broader narrative, reflecting the band’s long-standing preference for albums that reward full listens rather than isolated moments.
The Paper Kites formed in Melbourne in 2009, built on friendships that predated the band itself. Early recordings were homemade and sold at local shows, establishing a grassroots approach that defined their early years. Their 2010 single Bloom became a turning point, eventually achieving Platinum certification in the United States and opening international doors.
EPs Woodland and Young North laid the groundwork for their debut album States in 2013, recorded at Sing Sing Studios. The album charted on the ARIA Albums Chart and led to extensive touring across Australia and North America. Subsequent releases, including Twelvefour, On The Train Ride Home and On The Corner Where You Live, demonstrated a willingness to shift tone and structure without abandoning identity.
Later projects such as Roses and At The Roadhouse expanded the band’s collaborative and live performance ambitions. By the time work began on If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, The Paper Kites had become a globally touring act with a loyal audience drawn to honesty rather than spectacle.
The new album feels like a synthesis of everything learned along the way, stripping back to emotion, space and songcraft. It is not a return to the past, but a considered continuation.
The Paper Kites will support If You Go There, I Hope You Find It with an extensive world tour in 2026. The only Australian date is for Twilight At Taronga on 6 February, 2026.
UK and Europe dates include Belfast on 17 February, Dublin on 18 February, Manchester on 20 February, and Bristol on 23 February.
North American tour dates are expected to follow the European run.
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