Support Women Artists Sunday: First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit

Prodigious Swedish teenagers Klara (17) and Johanna Söderberg (19), AKA First Aid Kit, have been gathering fans apace since the release of their ‘Drunken Trees’ EP in February 2009. They are proud to have since released their glorious debut full length, The Big Black and The Blue.

Spending their formative years drinking from the fountain of American classics – everything from Buffy Sainte-Marie (you can hear FAK’s revamped version of her 1964 protest classic ‘Universal Soldier’ here, to the likes of Conor Oberst – it shaped their way with song writing, arrangements and even the use of a second language. Audiences have been falling at their feet, enraptured by their pure, shimmering voices in harmony.

Until now they have been rightfully praised for their astonishing cover versions, such as their infamous YouTube phenomenon of Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’, but First Aid Kit are now unveiling some remarkable songs of their own. The first flourishes can be heard on this masterly debut album, built around the sweeping majesty and almost telekinetic, intricate weaving of their voices. Sounding like the dreamy and spectral nieces of the Indigo Girls or Michelle Shocked coming in from the campfire to settle at the Stockholm kitchen table, the Söderberg’s distil all of their collective influences and make them their own.

Whereas Wendy and Bonnie made a play for tripped-out girl-pop many moons ago, FAK are staking out the ground for wise-beyond-their-years, country-tinged pop. The songs seep under the skin and claw at you. Surface playfulness is deceiving as the tracks take on a darker hue in places, but both elements work perfectly together to create a trance-like quality. This is very special, indeed. Recorded by the band and their father at “Cellar Door” (their house in Stockholm), with small yet purposeful flashes of drumming from friend Charlie Smoliansky, the sisters wrote all the songs, and also designed all the complementary, sepia-toned artwork.

- via Letssingit.com

Emmylou