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 ...

and

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

musical duo based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, comprising siblings Ben & Katie Marshall.

History

Ben & Katie Marshall grew up near

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. 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 university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

, where Ben had also studied. Ben is also the drummer for the band Savoir Adore. The duo took the name Paperwhite from the flower species '' narcissus papyraceus'', 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 Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 awar ...

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 Eckō. Complex Networks reports on popular and emerging tr ...

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

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

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

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

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

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

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 advertis ...

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 (

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Passion Pit Passion Pit is an American indie pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Formed in 2007, frontman and keyboardist Michael Angelakos is the band's primary recording member. As a touring act, the band currently consists of Angelakos (vocals, syn ...

). 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." 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), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

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 sy ...

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

, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. Contemporary artists that the band have cited as influences include ASTR,

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

Broods Broods are a musical duo from Nelson, New Zealand, 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 (Broo ...

Chvrches Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish synth-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 deriv ...

Kate Boy Kate Boy are a Swedish synth-pop 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 participat ...

, and

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson ( ; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. ...

. ''

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

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

Discography

Extended plays

*''Magic'' (2014) *''Escape'' (2016)

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

*https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/paperwhite-by-your-side-single/ *https://www.melodicmag.com/2025/03/07/paperwhite-share-by-your-side-from-upcoming-ep/

External links

* * {{Authority control 21st-century American musicians American synth-pop groups Berklee College of Music alumni American dream pop musical groups American 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 American remixers Sibling musical duos 2013 establishments in New York City