First Aid Kit - Palomino
by Zena Grieg
published: 7 / 1 / 2023

Label:
Columbia
Format: CD
intro
Upbeat and resilient combination of 60's country soul and contempoary Swedish pop in first album in five years from Swedish sibling duo First Aid KIt
Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Soderberg (First Aid Kit) have released the follow-up to their last album ‘Ruins’, which reached No.3 in the UK charts in 2018. Recorded in Stockholm ‘Palomino’ is a bright, upbeat record, their fifth, with resilience at its core, the open highway a leitmotif throughout. This new release is a mix of Nashville story-telling, reminiscent of their earlier work, and 60s country soul, interspersed with contemporary Scandinavian pop. Highlights of this eleven-track collection include: the opener, the rollicking rock pop ‘Out Of My Head’; anthemic country track ‘Angel’ with its soaring vocals about needing to get rid of fear and inhibitions; ballad ‘Ready To Run’, the plaintive dissection of an old romance; ‘Turning Onto You’ with its layered vocals; ‘White Horse II’ reminiscing in a traditional Americana mode of a road trip and motel stays in which the liking of different versions of the 1971 song ‘White Horses’ becomes a harbinger of the growing void In the relationship: “I thought I couldn’t change/So I didn’t even try”; the funky classic rock ‘A Feeling That Never Came’ a goodbye to a relationship that didn’t work: “I loved you, but I’ve put all that to rest/Stood at the corner, solemn in the rain/Waiting for something, a feeling that never came”; and ’29 Palms Highway’ a paean to desert sand and starry skies. At times escapist, at times a lyrical exploration of emotional vulnerability, ‘Palomino’ is a reflective, harmonious palette of sound, a confident sequel to their previous work.
Track Listing:-
1 Out of My Head2 Angel
3 Ready to Run
4 Turning Onto You
5 Fallen Snow
6 Wild Horses II
7 The Last One
8 Nobody Knows
9 A Feeling That Never Came
10 29 Palms Highway
11 Palomino
Band Links:-
https://www.firstaidkitband.com/https://www.facebook.com/firstaidkitband
https://twitter.com/FirstAidKitBand
Label Links:-
http://www.columbia.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaRecordsUK
https://twitter.com/ColumbiaUK
https://www.youtube.com/user/icolumbia
Play in YouTube:-
Have a Listen:-
live reviews |
Apollo, Manchester, 23/1/2015 |
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Mary O'Meara watches Swedish sisters First Aid Kit play an extraordinary set of ethereal folk rock at the Apollo in Manchester |
soundcloud
reviews |
Who By Fire (2021) |
![]() |
Excellent tribute album to Leonard Cohen recorded live over two nights at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm by sibling duo First Aid Kit |
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