The Lion's Roar

First Aid Kit: help for those, who miss the folk

A wonderful Swedish duo First Aid Kit was formed recently. Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg started to write their own songs in 2007, looking for inspiration in works of such artists as Fleet Foxes and Johanna Newsom. The sisters’ vocals, decorated by melodiousness parts of guitars and keyboards, sound incredibly harmonically. The point is that Johanna’s and Klara’s voices are alike in some ways, so together they sound just excellent. Among the first ones who enjoyed the talent of young Swedish performers were listeners of a local radio station. Johanna and Klara recorded their very first demo-tape at home and sent it to the radio. Curiously enough, the non-professional record proved to be highly evaluated by experts, so pretty soon Tangerine got its place in the broadcasting. A bit later, in 2008, the Internet users had an opportunity to enjoy an interesting interpretation of a song Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by Fleet Foxes, performed by the Swedish duo. In quite a short period of time First Aid Kit got a really huge number of views on Youtube, which means that the audience not just liked the video, but that people wanted to share it with acquaintances and friends. The duo released its debut studio attempt titled The Big Black & The Blue in 2010. The long play was critically acclaimed. The band’s fans were looking for the album’s continuation, so it took Söderberg sisters two years to prepare the new material. Meet the brand new long play, which was titled The Lion’s Roar.

The Lion’s Roar’s warm sound

The Swedish folk-duo keeps on pleasing listeners with an incredibly distinctive and warm sound. Johanna’s and Klara’s melodiousness compositions are just great on their own, however it seems that the major charm of First Aid Kit’s songs lies within the performers’ voices. You can easily make sure of it: The Lion's Roar, the album’s opening song, is a great example of folk. Ringing guitars, soft bass and of course the wind instruments exist in a remarkable harmony with each other. All that musical landscape opens a real vastness for the Söderberg sisters’ vocals. Melodiousness in general is one of the main components of the record. Every single track has its own distinctiveness and expression. Of course, all compositions are united by the general style, and that is surely a great thing to know. Thus, thoughtful In The Hearts Of Men or mid-tempo This Old Routine are quite distant from each other, however it is still easy to recognize that they both had been created by Johanna and Klara. The young artists managed to find their style, which proved to be wide enough to hold all the charm of folk music.

First Aid Kit’s bright future

The Swedish performers succeeded in the sphere that can be quite tricky to many artists. They released only one record, but actually that was enough to create a reputation of mature professionals with an outstanding musical taste. Their long play of 2010 The Big Black & The Blue attracted a lot of attention of listeners, that is why The Lion’s Roar, being prepared to be released in 2012 was no doubt awaited. First of all, that long play was awaited by lovers of folk music, the genre which cannot be called the most popular nowadays. Nevertheless, it can claim to be called one of the most soulful directions. Söderberg sisters write excellent songs that are more folk culture creations than indie-rock scene creations. The Lion’s Roar turned out to be atmospheric indeed and a little bit mysterious. Warm sound and charming singing of Swedish artists will bring lots of positive emotions to all connoisseurs of high quality music, while fans of folk will be just thrilled and happy. This is First Aid Kit’s second long play only, but it is clear as a day that a bright future is waiting for the duo.