Back in 2008, the Swedish sister duo of Johanna and Klara Söderberg, who perform and record as the First Aid Kit, became indie-rock viral video sensations when they posted a clip of themselves in a forest, decked out in flannel, performing an enchanting acoustic version of the Fleet Foxes’ Tiger Mountain Peasant Song. The video has since been viewed a staggering 2.6 million times. As a result of the YouTube clip, the sisters, who had released an EP on a Swedish label in April of that year, were signed to the London-based Wichita Records, who re-released their EP Drunken Trees
On January 24, First Aid Kit will release their Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Monsters Of Folk) produced full-length, sophomore effort The Lion’s Roar. The ten-track album, which was recorded in Omaha, is the duo’s first with a full backing band, which featured their dad, Benkt, on bass, as well as assistance from Mogis and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes). The Söderberg sisters also got some high profile help on the album’s closing track, King Of The World, from the The Felice Brothers, who added their ramshackle instrumentation, and Conor Oberst, who sang that song’s closing verse. Last week the First Aid Kit released this video for the pedal steel-drenched track Emmylou, which is a direct nod to Ms. Harris, and also name checks Gram Parsons and June and Johnny Cash. Let’s check it out…
The First Aid Kit will head out for a 12-date North American spring tour, that kicks offs with a high profile show at New York’s Webster Hall on March 28, and wraps roughly three weeks later with a tour closing gig at Slim’s in San Francisco on April 18.
