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First Aid Kit / February 2012 UK/Irish Tour

First Aid Kit (Swedish sisters and folk singers/songwriters Johanna and Klara Söderberg) will be heading out on a tour of the UK and Ireland in February. Tickets are on sale now.

The sisters’ new album ‘The Lion’s Roar’ will be out on the 23rd of January on Wichita Recordings. Ellie’s review of the title track / lead single can be read here.

Thursday 23rd February 2012 – London King’s College
Friday 24th February 2012 – Manchester Academy 3
Saturday 25th February 2012 – Dublin Workman’s Club
Monday 27th February 2012 – Glasgow King Tut’s
Tuesday 28th February 2012 – Leeds Wardrobe
Wednesday 29th February 2012 – Bristol Thekla

Video of the Moment #622: First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit have unveiled the new video for their forthcoming single ‘The Lion’s Roar’, out on the 5th of December. Watch the hauntingly beautiful visual below. Our writer Ellie reviewed the single last month and you can read her thoughts on it here.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl5FdvRR4pQ[/youtube]

Single Review: First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

Words by Ellie Molitor

After listening to First Aid Kit‘s ‘The Lion’s Roar’, one would expect the duo to be composed of middle aged sirens, echoing the troubles that come with the experience love and loss. This is not the case. The Swedish folk duo is comprised of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg, who are only 21 and 18 respectively. Yet, ‘The Lion’s Roar’ details emotions that some adults don’t even understand, detailing failed love via nature’s metaphors.

This astounding maturity is further displayed in the duo’s musical style. Packed subtle harmonies, this track casts a poignant spell over the listener. Echoing instrumentation is punctuated by the steady pluck of an acoustic guitar, creating a etherial glow throughout the track.

Unfortunately, the full album does not come out until 2012. But for now, the layers in both lyricism and musicality displayed throughout “Lion’s Roar” will be enough to keep listeners interested.

8/10

‘The Lion’s Roar’, the new single from First Aid Kit, is scheduled to drop on 7″ and digital formats on the 5th of December on Wichita Recordings. Their upcoming second album of the same name will be released on 23 January 2012.

Video of the Moment #356: First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit, comprised of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg, are an example of sibling harmony done right. In this promo for ‘Ghost Town’, the countryside is as beautiful as the sisters’ voice and lilting guitar. I got chills just watching it – check it out below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKUjnyf8uY[/youtube]

Video of the Moment #219: First Aid Kit

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGRG-U8kI2o[/youtube]

First Aid Kit – I Met Up With The King

First Aid Kit are slowly seeping their way into the British consciousness, and this ace single explains why – a simple yet clever video, a great tune that crawls under your skin and gets you in the heart. It’s out on the 8th of March from the usual places.

Album Review: First Aid Kit – The Big Black and the Blue

I initially fell in love with Swedish sisters, First Aid Kit, a few months back having caught their amazing cover of Fleet Foxes’ Tiger Mountain Peasant Song over on YouTube. I was instantly struck by the undeniable talent of these two young girls, the both of them possessing fantastically strong voices, as well as some enviable finger picking guitar skills. Alas, I was super excited when TGTF were sent their debut album for review this week. Released next January and titled The Big Black and the Blue, Klara and Johanna are certainly set on sprinkling folktastic joy upon their audience in 2010.

Track one, In The Morning, introduces listeners’ to the siblings’ beautifully rich, now trademark harmonies. A stripped back number, the sisters’ textured voices pleasantly wash over each other as a humble acoustic strums in the distance. The hearty thuds of the album start to kick in around track three – Sailor Song. Quite an apt name for this sea shanty of a number – the raw percussion and melodic acoustic ultimately spinning it into a real folk foot stomper. The fairytale-like Waltz For Richard, meanwhile, displays Klara and Johanna’s crisp, yodelling voices to perfection, as a fragile finger picking sequence tinkers in the distance. The flute-led I Met Up With A King showcases First Aid Kit’s fantastically charming lyricism, as well as their surprisingly gruffer-sided vocals. Track six, Ghost Town, is a haunting ballad placed amid the album, complimented by a weezing accordion, as well as a starry piano which hovers above the song’s sedative chorus. A Window Open’s swaying melody, meanwhile, has itself an element of woodland waltz about it, while the light and fluffy Will of the River’s acoustic wisps wrap the album up more than nicely.

First Aid Kit have an undoubted ability to capture an essence of magic in their music. Their earthy soundscape makes you feel like walking through a green forest in a fairisle jumper, surrounded by mystical fairies as friends. Their perfectly crafted folk is dream-like, warming to the bones, and most importantly, genuine. One criticism I’d share would be the girls’ heavy reliance on their harmonies, resulting in the vox growing a little heavy on some tracks. But the talent these Soderberg sisters possess is sparkling, and all they can do from here is grow and grow. Long live the First Aid Kit!

[audio:http://theregoesthefear.com/media/200912/fak_yourenotcominghometonight.mp3]
MP3: First Aid Kit – You’re Not Coming Home Tonight

Watch the video to the beautifully tumbly Hard Believer below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDG8xqz7BIk[/youtube]

First Aid Kit’s The big Black and the Blue is out on 25th January 2010 on Wichita Records. Pre-order it now.