Sam Bentley commented that he felt very lucky for the amount of success "Bloom" and "Featherstone" gained online.

In February 2012, the band went on their first headline tour of Australia, playing sold-out shows in small clubs around the country.

With the success of Woodland, the band began getting requests for their music on various US television shows, including "Featherstone" being featured in the season 8 finale of Grey's Anatomy.

They decided to work with engineer and producer Wayne Connolly, and recorded the five-track EP through June 2012.

[citation needed] The first single, "A Maker of My Time", was released in July and was quickly picked up by Australian alternative station Triple J.

The band also collaborated with Sydney director Jefferton James on the video, capturing a one-take improvised performance from Tendai Dzwairo, just east of the town of Mildura.

They found that along with progressing their sound and live performance they were attracting bigger crowds and selling out larger rooms.

The Paper Kites began recording their debut full-length album States in February 2013, collaborating once again with producer Wayne Connolly.

In October, they made their first trip to America, opening for Canadian band City and Colour on a 13-date tour across the country.

The music video was directed by acclaimed Australian director Natasha Pincus, starring the French artist Sylvain Letuvée.

The sessions took place across two studios—the Avast Recording Company and Chris Walla's studio Hall of Justice.

The first single, "Electric Indigo", was released in June with a music video following starring actress Laura Brent and Charles Grounds.

The album was recorded in Melbourne at Bellbird Studios with Big Scary/#1 Dads Tom Iansek co producing with singer Sam Bentley.

Upon the release of On the Train Ride Home the band announced that it would be the first of an intended double album that they had decided to split into two separate records.

The artwork for both On the Train Ride Home and On the Corner Where You Live were painted by Los Angeles noir artist Gina Higgins, who worked with Bentley on the pieces.

The album was recorded in July 2022 in an old diggers store in Campbells Creek, Australia, where the band played the songs to a live audience for free on Friday and Saturday nights, joined by musicians Matt Dixon, Hannah Cameron and Chris Panousakis.

Sam Bentley's fingerstyle guitar sound is a frequent characteristic, along with Lacy's and his voices together, and the band's harmonies.