Getting into my car Sunday morning, I slipped States, the new album by indie-folk band The Paper Kites, into the CD player. It was the perfect fall day-a gentle breeze, radiant sunlight and colorful leaves. As I drove through town, I enjoyed the beautiful morning and melodic music.

This is the third album for the five-person band from Melbourne, Australia. The Paper Kites have done several tours, mostly focused around Australia, but are currently on a U.S. tour and are coming to Boston in November. Though they are widely successful in Australia, the band has yet to build as extensive of a fan base in the U.S. However, their song "Featherstone" appeared in the season eight finale of Grey's Anatomy and, like many songs featured on the show, boosted their image immediately.

States maintains a consistent sound throughout the album, mostly harmonious and folky. The music is almost mind-numbing in a way that it quiets your mind and you can really feel the music in your soul. Sam Bentley and Christina Lacy are the two main vocalists, and it is obvious the two have extensive experience singing together. Their voices blend and complement each other perfectly, producing a soft, emotive sound with instrumentals to match.

David Powys, Josh Bentley and Sam Rasmussen make up the rest of the band, each playing several instruments. The music focuses heavily on acoustic guitar, keyboards, various percussion sounds and synthetic tunes with a slower-paced tempo. Songs like "In Reverie" stand out for their use of bolder, louder and heavier instrumentals. Although I use the word heavy only in comparison to the softer nature of the rest of the album.

In high school, Bentley and Lacy played and wrote music together until 2009, when they informally founded The Paper Kites. After playing shows in their hometown of Melbourne, the duo was invited to perform at a local music festival, and from there, the three other members joined the group. Their first show was a success and the quintet decided to stick together, releasing the Bloom EP in 2010.

The songs all have interesting titles-"Malleable Beings," "Cold Kind Hand" and "Tin Lover" to name a few-but I found myself not really listening to the lyrics. I feel like if the album lacks anything, it is the emotional connection that could have been created by lyrics because they were often hard to hear or understand. From the general content, I'm guessing the lyrics are deeply philosophical, but who knows. I enjoy the instrumentals enough, and it will definitely be good music to listen to while doing homework.

States' trance-like, ethereal sound is reminiscent of Bon Iver, though the vocal complexity and tension of some songs (think "Skinny Love") doesn't compare. The Paper Kites also kind of sound like a less "emo" version of Bright Eyes with less grave, rough qualities. Overall, the best musical comparison is English rock band The Verve, known for its chill, psychedelic music and widespread drug use. "The Drugs Don't Work," by The Verve perfectly characterizes the group's persona and marks an interesting comparison to The Paper Kites.

My two favorite songs on the album, "Tin Lover" and "A Lesson From Mr. Gray," represent the two opposite ends of the spectrum of the album. "Tin Lover" is melodic, trance-like and soothing while "Mr. Gray" is more upbeat and has a stronger guitar part. In its entirety, States is very experimental, diverging into different, introspective sounds that aren't mainstream or on the top charts-but I appreciate this unique quality. The Paper Kites is a refreshing discovery that I stumbled upon; though not pump-up exciting music, States fits into its own niche of music that is perfect for quiet moments or studying.