B-
First thing is first: I like First Aid Kit. I’ve never been fanatical about them but I’ve watched their popularity rise, wane, and rise again. This year, six years after their youtube cover of Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’ shot them into the ranks of other blogger buzz darlings, First Aid Kit have a new album out. The third album for the Swedish siblings, Stay Gold, is beautiful, well written, but somewhat predictable.
As per usual, Johanna and Klara Söderberg’s harmonies are well crafted and airtight but quickly lose their effect once the lack of variety in song structure becomes apparent. First song, ‘My Silver Lining’ is of course, a winner. Dreamy, folksy, and reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac in all the ways that matter, ‘My Silver Lining’ is an excellent album opener. Similarly, ‘Master Pretender’ is
light hearted and bouncy, buoyed by the sisters’ dynamic vocals.
Title track ‘Stay Gold’ has a decent enough hook, chorus progression but lacks the dynamic element of their earlier work. ‘Cedar Lane’, however, is winding and wonderful and speaks to an older quality apparent in much of the sisters’ music ‘Shattered Hollow’ is, by far, the best song on the album. Quiet and humble, its appeal lays in the simplistic quality of its construction.
Stay Gold continues on in a similar way, sounding the way it feels to embark on a road trip through middle America. Closing track, ‘A long time ago’ is a romantic and heartbreaking ballad that is probably the most varied track on the album. The most mature, and interesting sounding track is a definite winner for the sisters.
Stay Gold isn’t bad, but it isn’t great. The lack of varied instrumentals on this album make it perhaps the weakest of three decent releases. Johanna and Klara Söderberg’s vocal capabilities are sharp and pay homage to the Patsy Clines and Dolly Partons before them but the music itself lacks commercial appeal. The darker and more dynamic songs of their past releases would have shone amongst the almost bland tracks on Stay Gold. Stay Gold was released June 2014 and is available for purchase on itunes and Amazon this summer.
