Press

Mojo - Summer '11

Papercranes

...Ms Phoenix has hit a richly creative seam with papercranes. This one is here for the long haul.

Q - Summer '11

PAPERCRANES

...a sparse and downbeat collection, aspiring to the small-hours sadness of Hope Sandoval and early Cat Power...

Bon Magazine - Spring/Summer '11

Rain Joan of Arc Phoenix on The Art of Sharing

AAAmusic - May '11

Papercranes New Video and Free mp3 Of 'Sea Red' From Forthcoming Album

Anchored by lead singer and songwriter, Rain Phoenix, and flanked by her revolving cast of collaborators, papercranes, will release their second album in the UK on the 11th July via Manimal Vinyl (Bat For Lashes, Warpaint, Sister Crayon). Let's Make Babies in the Woods, is a mesmerizing mix of gritty, psychedelia-tinged folk, propulsive rhythms, and orchestral expansiveness. The soul of each song is formed by Phoenix's voice, which drips with emotion and is equally comfortable as an airy whisper or a shiver-inducing, raspy wail.

Beat Juice - May '11

Rain Phoenix's papercranes

Rain, yes, sister of, Phoenix has a new band - papercranes. Released on the brilliant Manimal Vinyl, Sea Red is their second single from her album 'Lets Make Babies In The Woods'.

Rocket Surgery Webzine

Rain Phoenix

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Find Your Fav

Rain Phoenix talks about her influences and the latest album from papercranes

Papercranes released Let's Make Babies in the Woods in January of 2011. The record, which Rain describes as "experimental and true," is exactly that: a journey through unconventional music and lyrics written in stream of consciousness. The strong repetition of percussion and the orchestral instruments enhance every song.

Interview Magazine - Feb '11

Consumption - Rain Phoenix

Rain Phoenix may come from a famous family - perhaps you've heard of her brothers, River and Joaquin? - but her personal style is all her own. Phoenix, a singer and guitarist for the band papercranes, has added her voice to the likes of Michael Stipe and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. She acts, too: you may remember her turn as Bonanza Jellybean in Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Here, Phoenix shares what she can't live without.

Blurt - Feb '11

Review - Let's Make Babies in the Woods

On the second full-length from her recurring outfit papercranes, the future matriarch of the famed, controversial Hollywood family goes into experimental mode, utilizing a stream-of-consciousness style of songwriting accented by Phoenix's scholarly lyrical prose. This enchanting set of tunes blends ambient, anthemic melodies evocative of early Frames with the kind of folk-laced psychedelia that fits right in at papercranes' new label Manimal Vinyl (home to such fellow female-strong acts as Bat for Lashes and Warpaint).

Sputnik - Jan '11

Review - Let's Make Babies in the Woods

Hailing from Gainesville, Florida, Papercranes is not exactly a household name in folk/alternative rock. In fact, everything about them begs to be left alone. Their raw sound doesn't aim to please anyone besides themselves, and their work is an indication of the reclusive style that they integrate into their music. They seem to march to the beat of their own drum, and their albums are undoubtedly better off for it. Papercranes' sophomore effort, Let's Make Babies in the Woods, is a spiraling stream of consciousness expedition into front woman Rain Phoenix's mind, a black and white soundscape of hurt and abandonment. With folk and psychedelic influences as the impetus, everything from Phoenix's tortured wails to the music's underlying depression is put on full display during this unpolished gem.

W Magazine - Jan '11

FIVE MINUTES WITH RAIN PHOENIX

Rain Phoenix, the singer and songwriter behind papercranes - an LA-based music collective with an ever-evolving roster of collaborators (including sisters Summer and Liberty) grew up, she says, learning the ropes performing "uplifting songs" on street-corners with her famously non-conformist family to make ends meet. Inspired by these humble beginnings, Phoenix has continued to perform and compose music, this week releasing her second full-length album, "Let's Make Babies in the Woods", out now on Manimal Vinyl. The very lovely Rain Phoenix, while celebrating the launch of her new album from her home in Laurel Canyon, shares her thoughts on collaboration, charity, family and creativity with W.

Spinner - Jan '11

Papercranes' Rain Phoenix Rocks Naturally on 'Let's Make Babies' -- Exclusive Video

At first glance, it might appear that papercranes' second album, 'Let's Make Babies in the Woods,' is merely an ode to a rather fun camping trip, but vocalist Rain Phoenix explains that it's a bit more philosophical than that.

"A boy once said that to me, not someone I knew very well. It was just like flippant, almost like a one-liner," Phoenix tells Spinner. "To me, the record was very fertile and it was about letting go of things ... The songs are like red-headed step children."

Interview Magazine - Jan '11

Rain Phoenix, Rising Again

Rain Phoenix is like any typical musician, flitting from playing gigs to experimenting with recording to her preference for the tambourine as an instrument. She's noticeably touched when I mention an affinity for a song, and speaks frankly about her need to let go of the creative process, to keep learning and exploring. Phoenix mentions words like "wonderful," "grateful," and "collaboration" frequently; less like an artiste and more like a musician who joyously intersects her particular brand of gravelly, raw vocals into her current projects. What she doesn't mention, however, is her family pedigree of bona fide performing powerhouses (though she does tell me her sister Summer's store, Some Odd Rubies, is responsible for her onstage outfits) or that she has added her voice to those of Michael Stipe, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and even her own brother, River. Instead, she points out that her third record with her band papercranes was an experiment in stream-of-consciousness creation, of letting go and playing songs without the traditional editing process.

Flagpole - Jan '11

Review - Let's Make Babies in the Woods

Overflowing with spontaneity, energy and stream-of-consciousness-style lyrics, the latest release by supergroup Papercranes is a combination of soulful sweetness and sophisticated angst. The band is fronted by Rain Phoenix, sister of the late River Phoenix, and is comprised of a hodgepodge of other familiar faces. The lineup occasionally includes Rain's sisters Summer and Liberty, actor Durmot Mulroney, labelmate Jenny O, The Minus 5's Scott McCaughy and Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Full Frontal Fashion - Nov '10

Bands that ROCK: Papercranes

It turns out that the charming Rain Phoenix is as poetic as her name would imply.

The down-to-earth musician is the singer and songwriter behind papercranes - an LA-based "project" or band with an evolving roster of collaborators who each add their unique touch to the songs they create. Absorbing and ethereal, papercranes' sound is quite unlike anything you've heard, and happily, papercranes' second full-length album is out early 2011 - so get listening! The ever-lovely Rain Phoenix lets FFF in on her world of music and collaboration...

Flaunt Magazine - Nov '10

PAPERCRANES: the blossoming gusts of a musical settler

risking cheesiness, one's inclined to marinate on the fabled scribblings of Ralph Waldo Emerson while at a picnic table with tabbouleh avec roast potatoes and American Spirits high above the golden-green, soupy mire of the L.A. flatlands. Emerson penned that polarity is met "in every part of nature... darkness and light ... in the fluids of the animal body ... in the systole and diastole of the heart." Systole-the expulsion of blood from the contracting heart to the rest of the body-might serve as the crowning metaphor for the band papercranes, a morphing psychedelic-alt-folk ensemble fronted by the beautifully transfixing and thermally cool Rain Phoenix-a band seemingly bent on dishing a kind of fevered oxygen to the needy limbs of its audience community. Systole, however, metaphor holding, cannot exist without its diastole-or ventricular uptake-and, for papercranes, this uptake materializes via contribution of new and rotating members into its fold.