The Paper Kites: Featherstone

Happened across The Paper Kites a few weeks ago, and recently went back to listen to their “Woodland” EP. This song in particular, “Featherstone”, is something I’ve been looping for a few days now.

There’s a pretty simple guitar/bass underneath, that begins with and stays throughout the song. It’s almost percussive in nature, with a constant shift between A and D.

I’m particularly fond of the key changes (that really seem just perfect and pleasant to me). Starting around 1:13 as an example:

While the soft vocals make the song seem quite simple, on listening a little more I found myself confounded a bit by the timing. Even the very beginning – listen to it and see if you don’t hear it too.

The tempo is really constant. But the lyrics seem more off than just syncopated. They seem to arrive a half beat early. It’s hard to pin down, but it doesn’t quite feel in time with the rest of the song. It’s early, but just ever so slightly.

It’s not everywhere, just at the starts of certain bits of the song.

Despite this, the song never feels off or unbalanced. I really love it for how the tune resolves – but hearing this early start was a very interesting discovery. When I imagine trying to sing it out loud, I find myself stumbling.

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