Wednesday night, First Aid Kit treated London with an electrifying musical experience. Before heading stateside, the Swedish indie rock sister duo, performing in the atmospheric Shoreditch Town Hall, enchanted the crowd with a selection of their well-known hits and sharing a few songs from their new upcoming album, Ruins recorded in the US, out on January 19th.
Klara and Johanna Soderberg have come a long way since their early My-space home recordings. Opening the night with “Wolf” the duo set the scene and the energy for the rest of the night. Powering through, “Master Pretender” and “Waitress song” it became clear what sets Soderberg sisters aside from many others – their voices, that complement each other at every moment through the night in perfect harmony.
Delving into the unknown, First Aid Kit brought out “Fireworks” the first of many tracks from their upcoming album. Continuing capitalising on their superb voices, they strike a perfect mix between the country music roots and a more mainstream indie rock, producing a unique sound. Following on with another song from the upcoming album “Postcard” a more traditional country ballad, intertwined with the sisters fresh spin.
Once again the synergy between the two sisters was apparent in “Shattered and Hollow” electrifying every person in the crowd. With the start of Lion’s Roar once again demonstrating this, as the crowd stood transfixed.
Cutting through the traditional recipe of the sister’s repertoire “You Are The Problem Here” demonstrated Forst Aid Kit’s skill to be able to create and deliver something so powerful. While more aggressive, with a noticeably harder melody. The song, as relevant now as ever, inspired by the infamous Stanford rape case last year, and the need for change in the society and men.
The range of the sounds keep me entertained during the night, with the sisters veering through “Master Pretender” filled with energy to more solid “Stay Gold” and also giving us a third song from the new album “It’s a Shame” The night closes with “Ghost Town”, sung unplugged to the awestruck London crowd.
As the final chords drew in it became apparent why First Aid Kit have been so overwhelmingly successful over the past few years. With fans taking home a memory that will last a lifetime, and us a drumstick (masterfully caught by my face), all that remains is the countdown to their fourth album Ruins.
