The first thing that strikes you about First Aid Kit is the uncertain correlation between the band鈥檚 age, and the adult material of much of their work.
Sisters, Johanna and Klara Soderberg, were born in 1990 and 1993 respectively and repeatedly find a hostile focus on their ages, perhaps because for many the lyrics will resonate with insincerity, perhaps for rejecting the tweeny portfolio of subject matter expected of artists (not to mention family duos) still in their teens. For the most part, the sisters have a firm understanding of people鈥檚 expectations. 鈥淭here are definitely people who look down on us because we鈥檙e young, who think we鈥檙e not real, which sucks.鈥
First Aid Kit鈥檚 folk credentials mean their influences of Bright Eyes, Joanna Newson and Bill Monroe trip easily off the tongue. Although Klara initiated the musical process, once Johanna joined her on stage the band naturally completed itself, 鈥渟omething had been created with our harmonies, something special added to the music.鈥 Song-writing is now very much a collaborative, spontaneous process, while the album鈥檚 artwork is a further synergetic touch and emphasises the sisters鈥 movement away from the commercialism of the music industry. 鈥淲e knew we didn鈥檛 want a photo of us on the cover, it shouldn鈥檛 be about how we look. There鈥檚 a story of a city on the top of a mountain at the start of the album, and the train鈥檚 going up to the city. The seven people on the cover 鈥 those are the people that we are singing about in the songs.鈥
Drunken Trees has a beautiful sound. You鈥檙e Not Coming Home Tonight begins as a sombre contemplation of a crumbling relationship, eventually transporting itself to future hopefulness with 鈥渢he ship is sailing/ I鈥檒l meet you on the other side.鈥 Wistful lyrics showcase the optimism of Klara鈥檚 writing talent, but some of the more macabre musings, such as 鈥測ou鈥檒l start drinking again鈥 perhaps do raise concerns for the listener over authenticity. There are no falsehoods about the background to their lyrics however, 鈥渋t鈥檚 from what we鈥檝e read, what we鈥檝e heard, what we鈥檝e seen, but it鈥檚 very much fictional, we鈥檙e pretty young so we haven鈥檛 been through that much. We just want to be storytellers and tell people stories, it doesn鈥檛 matter if it鈥檚 about us or about anyone else. We can relate to our songs even though we haven鈥檛 been through what we鈥檙e singing about.鈥
Youth may very well be on their side and First Aid Kit breathe life into a staid folk scene, because the band is open to influences and to expanding their knowledge, but in a very 21st century manner. The title of the hauntingly simplistic Jagadamba, You Might is extracted directly from google, an afterthought that somehow works with Drunken Trees鈥 off the cuff inception. 鈥淲e were looking for an Indian kind of name, so we googled Indian names. It means mother of the world. The song is about the state of the world, things like war and environment, but it鈥檚 not very literal, it鈥檚 very open to interpretation.鈥 In a music industry saturated with interpretation, soul searching and oblique referencing, the attitude of First Aid Kit, 鈥渨e just do what comes naturally, making music is fun,鈥 is incredibly refreshing.
Drunken Trees is available on Wichita Recordings now. .
Ruby Beesley
