Paperwhite is an American

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

and

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

musical duo based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, comprising siblings Ben & Katie Marshall.

History

Ben & Katie Marshall grew up near

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Although they had written many songs together as teenagers, they decided to form a band in 2013 after Katie, a singer-songwriter, graduated from the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, where Ben had also studied. Ben is also the drummer for the band

Savoir Adore Savoir Adore is a pop-rock group duo from Brooklyn, New York City, United States initially consisting of Paul Hammer and Deidre Muro. In 2014, Deidre Muro left the band while Hammer worked with a guest vocalist. Hammer began collaborating with La ...

. The duo took the name Paperwhite from the flower species ''

narcissus papyraceus ''Narcissus papyraceus'' (from ''papyrus'' and ''aceus''; meaning paper-like), one of a few species known as paperwhite, is a perennial bulbous plant native to the Mediterranean region, from Greece to Portugal plus Morocco and Algeria. The spec ...

'', also known as paperwhites; Katie worked at a florist during her years at Berklee and had written a song called "Paperwhites". Ben adopted the role of co-writing, producing, arranging and providing backing vocals to their music, while Katie focused on songwriting and singing. Paperwhite based themselves in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and released their debut single, "Got Me Goin'", in January 2014, the same month as their first live show. They produced remixes for Deidre & the Dark ("Skeleton") and Fickle Friends ("Swim"). The duo premiered the single "Take Me Back" in July 2014 to positive reviews from

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

and ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' magazine's

Pigeons & Planes Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, ''Complex'', by fashion designer Marc (Ecko) Milecofsky. Complex Networks reports on popular a ...

blog. Their song "Pieces" was premiered on ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s music blog in October 2014, and ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine's website streamed Paperwhite's debut EP, ''Magic'', in November 2014. The duo performed at music festival

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

in early 2015 and released "Get Away" on November 30, 2015. The music blog Vehlinggo said that Get Away was "genetically predisposed to make listeners dream big."

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

premiered the band's single "Unstoppable" on February 2, 2016 describing it as "starlit" and noting that Paperwhite had previously earned the title "Most Blogged Artist" twice on Hype Machine. Unstoppable was mastered by

Chris Zane Chris Zane is an American music producer, engineer and mixer based in London. He's worked with an array of artists such as Jack Antonoff, Passion Pit, St. Lucia, Holy Ghost!, and Friendly Fires. Discography 2017 * Chloe Howl - "Magnetic" ( s ...

(

St. Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerin ...

, Passion Pit). Oblivious Pop stated that Unstoppable "hits you full force with a cosmic rush" and went on to say: "This duo keeps proving time and time again that they are fighting for the top spot, and with a smash this big they are miles in the lead." On February 15, 2017, Paperwhite released their single "Human Nature". BuzzFeed named Paperwhite's single Wanderlust one of the 22 Most Summer-Ready Pop Songs of 2016. The band released their latest single, Only Us, on May 12, 2017. It was picked up on Spotify's New Music Friday playlist. The blog, GoingSolo, called it "super summery" and "a feast of dreamy synth stabs, bold melodies and pounding electronic percussions" Paperwhite initially drew inspiration from pop music of the 1980s for their output, as well as from acts such as

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Postal Service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

. Contemporary artists that the band have cited as influences include

ASTR ASTR is the solo project of American electronic R&B vocalist Zoe Silverman, originally formed with producer Adam Pallin. Their debut EP, ''Varsity'', was named the twentieth best album of 2014 by '' Spin''. Their second EP, ''Homecoming'', was re ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Broods Broods is a New Zealand musical duo from Nelson, composed of Georgia Josiena Nott on lead vocals, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Allan Joseph Nott on production and backing vocals. They released the single "Bridges", which w ...

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving f ...

Kate Boy Kate Boy are a Swedish synthpop duo from Stockholm. The group was founded by Kate Akhurst, from Australia, and Markus Dextegen, from Sweden, together with former swedish members Hampus Nordgren Hemlin and Oskar Sikow. All members have particip ...

, and

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

. ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

'' magazine described their sound as "hazy pop".

Discography

Extended plays

*''Magic'' (2014) Tracklist. 1.- Take Me Back 3:49 2.- Galaxy 4:27 3.- Pieces 3:58 4.- Gold 4:01 5.- Magic 3:55 6.- Got Me Goin 2:27 *''Escape'' (2016) Tracklist. 1.- Get Away 4:09 2.- Unstoppable 3:25 3.- On My Own 4:06 4.- Wanderlust 3:33 5.- Storm 3:21

Singles

*"Got Me Goin'" (2014) *"Take Me Back" (2014) *"Pieces" (2014) *"Galaxy" (2014) *"Get Away" (2015) *"Unstoppable" (2016) *"Wanderlust" (2016) *"Human Nature" (2017) *"Only Us" (2017) *"Loop" (2018) *"Count On You" (2018)

Remixes

*Animals – "Ceilings" *Deirdre & the Dark – "Skeleton" *Fickle Friends – "Swim" *Luxley – "Spirit" *The Night VI – "Sienna" *Nova – "Lovelife" *Ryan Star – "World I Used to Know"

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 21st-century American musicians American synth-pop groups Berklee College of Music alumni American dream pop musical groups Electronic music duos Electronic music groups from New York (state) Electronic music groups from Pennsylvania Musical duos from New York (state) Musical groups established in 2013 Musical groups from Brooklyn Remixers Sibling musical duos 2013 establishments in New York City