First Aid Kit is the sound and vision of kooky Swedish folk duo and sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg. Their music can only be described as earthy with beautiful vocal harmonies, if you like the soothing, romantic tones of Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver then you will love this twosome.
Their story is kind of nostalgic of how bands used to get their music out there, before the burst of reality television shows. It was a Swedish radio station that first gave them the airplay of home-recorded “Tangerine” that they needed, and it was a little later that year they were signed up to Rabid Records.
It was when they covered “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” originally performed by Fleet Foxes they started to spread their name across the globe. All this comparison of these two girls and Fleet Foxes meant it was only a matter of time before they were to finally perform with them. That time came at a concert in the Netherlands where they went on stage and sang the cover with them.
Their debut album was released this time last year yet it still sounds new and fresh. Johanna is in charge of keyboard and autoharp whilst guitar is provided by Klara, but both sisters are responsible for the vocals and atmospheric harmonies. Even though they’re from Sweden they are complete Americana, led by Mike Mogis their music is packed full of orchestral instruments from flute to dulcimer.
The maturity of this album is surprising considering the girls are only 19 and 22 years old, the sound already seems strong and the genre that they want to be making for a long time, pretty hard for a young band to do. The album starts with The Lion’s Roar’ and it is a perfect choice to showcase their folksy voices, this is where the Americana sound comes into play.
But it is track two that allows the listener to really appreciate the bands words, Emmylou sounds heartbreaking and romantic at the same time, almost a torn of emotions. An example of this is the chorus of Emmylou “I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June and you’ll be my Graham and my Johnny too/ I’m not asking much of you/ Just sing with me”
All the songs are simple and understated. The album ends with a hand-clapping, fist pumping almost tribal chanting song, Wolf. A perfect ending to a profound and lyrically complex debut from the two young women, they need to come up with something even more astounding and unique if they want to top this.
The Lion’s Roar is available on iTunes for £4.99