Album Review: First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

You do have to be a bit patient when ploughing through albums by artists you haven't heard of. Clearly there's a bit of taking the rough with the smooth, but the joy is when you uncover a great record that you'd have never previously have considered.

First Aid Kit are sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg and they hail from a small suburb of Stockholm. The Lion's Roar is their second studio album, and a lovely piece of work it is too. The pair have been compared favourably to the Fleet Foxes, although it's an indier and more country tinged sound than, say, Helplessness Blues. I suspect that the comparison comes from the songwriting and beautiful harmonies that the sisters create on tracks such as Emmylou and In The Hearts Of Men.

Conor Oberst makes a guest appearance on the lovely final track King of the World by which time I was totally encapsulated by this record. I'd hesitate before calling them the Swedish Pierces, but it's the most appropriate comparison I can make. If you like the Foxes, the Staves and the Pierces then it's certainly a record you need to hear immediately.

The first excellent album of 2012. Hoo-blooming-rah.