First Aid Kit - The Big Black & The Blue

TRACKLISTING:
01. In The Morning
02. Hard Believer
03. Sailor Song
04. Waltz For Richard
05. Heavy Storm
06. Ghost Town
07. Josefin
08. A Window Opens
09. Winter Is All Over You
10. I Met Up With The King
11. Wills Of The River
                          
OVERVIEW:
Prodigious Swedish teenagers Klara (16) and Johanna Söderberg (19), AKA First Aid Kit, have been gathering fans apace throughout 2009 since the release of their ‘Drunken Trees’ EP in February. Originally released on The Knife’s Rabid label, the duo was swiftly picked up for the UK by Wichita Recordings, who are proud to now unveil the 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 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xq831b2tPg), 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. A hectic whirligig of a summer saw them perform at a multitude of festivals, with stand out appearances at Glastonbury, Field Day, Underage, Standon Calling and End of the Road festivals. They also supported Fanfarlo on a highly successful UK tour in September/October.
 
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’ (currently at over 600,000 views), 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 at the Cellar Door, with small yet purposeful flashes of drumming from friend Charlie Smoliansky, the sisters wrote all the songs, and designed all the complementary, sepia-toned artwork.
 
From the first few strokes of acoustic fused with those divine harmonies on ‘In The Morning’, we enter the warm and spell binding nature of First Aid Kit’s world. The latter part of the album unveils more stinging highlights such as ‘Winter is All Over You’. Enveloping and richly rewarding with killer couplets to be found in its slipstream, “I saw your mother at the department store/She looked innocent like a still born”. ‘I Met Up With the King’ (sadly not about Michael Jackson on this occasion), borrows a line from Gram Parsons to marvellous effect, with the First Aid Kit surging and angry voice singing of a dispirited society.
The fusion of flutes, guitar and voice on album closer ‘Wills of the River’ was inspired by the film Into The Wild and swirls into the ether with the final words, "And the world is all alone now/While its children still sleeps, silently".
A beautiful lullaby completes a lovingly-tended, classic debut.
 
These sisters are definitely doing it for themselves and taking their vivid imaginings with them, but they would be delighted for you to join them for the continuing journey of this year and beyond.

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