First Aid Kit, The Big Black And The Blue
Posted on 4th Feb 10 by Connor Moloney | 
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Teenage Swedish Sisters. An Alt-Folk act, in case you had other ideas….
fter becoming a minor YouTube sensation with their cover of Fleet Foxes‘ Tiger Mountain Peasant Song, Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Soderberg’s debut comes with some minor expectation. Both in their late teens, this could have been a step too far too soon, yet on The Big Black And The Blue they handle the task with maturity, their twin Alison Krauss harmonies and earthy folk ballads proving a mostly pleasant, if slightly one paced affair.
The Big Black and the Blue
OpenerIn The Morning embodies the best and worst of this album: an overlong, slightly mawkish a capella intro gives way to a haunting country-blues lullaby, almost recalling Patti Smith‘s more ambient moments. But it is when First Aid Kit venture into darker territory that they’re frequently at their best.
Ghost Town is one such highlight, which despite threading a well-worn lyrical path retains its poignancy, as the sisters’ towering vocal performance imbues each word with a sense of longing.
It achieves the goal that all folk music shoots for: to sound aged and travelled, yet timeless, universal and truthful at the same time
The nusery rhyme pace of Winter Is All Over For You, meanwhile, gives it an almost menacing overtone, as the duo’s bruised vocals take on an almost haunted quality. Simlarly, bruised sea shanty A Window Opens and the wistful Heavy Storm revel in their own tantalising sense of unease, while the bible-basher baiting Hard Believer shows the girls’ lyrical teeth, as they deadpan defiantly “I don’t need your eternity, or your meaning to feel free.”
If The Big Black And The Blue does stumble, it is when it falls prey to the sometimes stifling tradtionalism that the folk genre demands. There is nothing specifically wrong with the hoedown of Sailor Song or the, erm, waltz of Waltz For Richard, but it is in these moments that First Aid Kit seem all too prepared to sacrifice originality for the sake of authenticity.
The one really aggravating misstep, though, comes with album closer I’m Building Myself A Boat, which aims for an air punching, climactic affirmation (or at least the folk equivalent thereof), but falls well short, sounding listless and clunky.
Standout track I Met Up With A King would have been more than up to this job. A brilliantly narrative parable of weakness and pride, it achieves the goal that all folk music shoots for: to sound aged and travelled, yet timeless, universal and truthful at the same time. It’s a satisfying highlight to take from this debut, for in a genre where experience counts, First Aid Kit are mere pups. With the benefit of a few more years honing their craft, their potential could be limitless.
Drop-d Rating 7.5/10
