First Aid Kit sound like they come from the rural America. It's the pedal guitars and the vocal harmonies, that rich southern twang of their voices. They have a similar sound to Fleet Foxes, that mixture of alt country and Appalachian folk. But actually they come from somewhere a little further north, Sweden.
First Aid Kit are a duo, sisters Klara (19) and Johanna Söderberg (21) and THE LION'S ROAR is their second album. From their close vocal lines and classic songwriting style you'd be forgiven if you'd thought it was their twenty-second and they'd come from a long forgotten age of Americana. They have a maturity and confidence that makes you think they've been playing together for decades, which being sisters, they probably have.
They've been inspired by the likes of Joanna Newsom and Fleet Foxes but I would also suggest there is some Joan Baez in there and maybe even forgotten Greenwich Village singer Karen Dalton. What really sets them apart from fellow young female folk singers like Laura Marling and Laura Viers is the brilliant and accessible songwriting - songs like 'Blue' (not a Joni Mitchell cover!) have a chamber pop quality, it's much more than niche folk or country.
THE LION'S ROAR simply doesn't have a bad song on it but if had to pick a few standouts...
'This Old Routine' is wearily optimistic with marching band drums and mandolins. 'Dance To Another Tune' is a haunting and mournful ballad, probably the most downbeat song on the album. 'In the Hearts of Men' is a bittersweet alt-country strum.
But it's the lead single 'Emmylou' which is nothing less that stunning. If like me your ears prick up at any mention of Johnny Cash or Gram Parsons then your heart will probably skip a beat, and then duly melt at the song's sheer loveliness. It's simple romantic country, so pure and perfect that you'd think John Denver should have have sung it 40 years ago:
"I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June,
If you be my Gram and my Johnny too,
No I'm not asking much of you,
Just sit little darling and sing with me"
Though relatively new on the scene First Aid Kit have attracted some very cool admirers. They have recorded for Jack White's vinyl only label Third Man Records, have toured with Fleet Foxes and played live with Bright Eyes, who's Conor Oberst joins them here on 'King Of The World'.
If their future albums are as great as this, big things surely lie ahead.
'EMMYLOU'
'THIS OLD ROUTINE'
'IN THE HEARTS OF MEN'
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