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Review
The Big Black & the Blue is, expectedly, not an album that will top any countdown this side of a dramatic and unforeseen folk revolution. First Aid Kit’s debut is all delicate picks and humble strums, where many girls its makers’ age – they were born in 1990 and 1993 – match their pulses to the skip-along sounds of the pop Top 40. Though the Söderbergs once sang along to Britney hits, their original fare is of the world-weary, heavy-hearted variety; disregard acknowledgment of their age and one could assume these voices sing from experience, not fanciful imagination.
It’s also tough to trace the roots of this material to Scandinavia’s fertile musical soil, as its primary touchstones are artists exclusively of stateside lineage – the bruised, soul-exposed lo-fi Americana of Bill Callahan; Cat Power’s spare, smoke-trail-detailed evocations; the soft-focus dynamics of Midlake and Fleet Foxes. As such questions can be posed, as to the ‘authenticity’ of First Aid Kit’s repertoire; but so finely accomplished is the sisters’ execution that doubts are soon dismissed.
While songs are, at times, little more than sketches – embellishments are at a premium, much on offer bare-boned and probably better for it – there’s only ever one element that’s properly illuminated: the vocals. And the sisters can sing, wonderfully so, uncommon richness wrapping itself around syllables drawled with all the ache of an individual battered by the conflicts of love, but stubbornly still standing. They can hold the listener in a trance-like state, the grip only broken when a sharp acoustic cuts the cord to mark the arrival of another song.
Familiarity does threaten to impose itself, as structures vary little from number to number, a template adhered to tightly. But these 11 tracks wisely elect not to outstay their welcome, ensuring that repeat experiences are enjoyable, if not markedly memorable. They might not always connect with the listener on an emotionally deep level, but there’s the suggestion that, with just a little development, those hearts are First Aid Kit’s for the taking on album two. Theirs are clearly in the right place. --Mike Diver
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Customer Reviews
Johanna Soderberg displays extraordinary musical
maturity and technical dexterity given that they
are only 16 and 19 years old respectively.
The sound they make, however, is as old as Methuselah.
The radiant simplicity and purity of vocal tone displayed
in these twelve economical arrangements is magical.
Their voices combine in harmonies which possess the
capacity to express complex and convincing emotion.
The Roches (sisters Maggie, Terre and Suzzy) in their
glorious heyday come to mind from time to time and
that is no bad thing. It has everything to do with
the combination of pathos, gently quirky humour and
soaring vocal pyrotechnics.
The album flows from A to Z in a seamless
line of inspired and flawless artistry.
It's difficult to pick out highlights when everything is
so good but standout tracks would have to include :
the whistful 'A Window Opens' with its waltz-time melody and
terse laconic narrative; the heart-wrending country-folk
lament 'Ghost Town'; 'I Met Up With The King', with its
hauntingly surreal imagery and curious instrumental decoration
and the blissfully plaintive reflections of 'Wills Of The River'.
The true beauty of this music arises from the simple fact
that everything we hear is exactly in the right place.
Balanced, coherent and consummately performed, First Aid Kit's
debut album is, a truly remarkable and memorable achievement.
Essential.
Its like the whole folk movement of the 60s didn't happen till now.
Fragile beauty runs seamlessly through each track. Read more
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