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I know what you\u2019re thinking: What do Sweden and Nebraska have in common? Funny you should ask. There\u2019s climate for one, as the two share similar summer (July average 75) and winter temps (January average 23). Nearly 5 percent of Nebraska\u2019s population is of Swedish descent, and both spots claim a bevy of Lutherans.<\/p>\n
The two locales share another affinity: Music. Both have developed and engendered a burgeoning scene, with Sweden boasting such acts as ABBA, The Hives and Shout Out Louds while Nebraska can look to Elliott Smith, 311 and Mannheim Steamroller. One wonders what a collaboration of musical minds from the two regions would create.<\/p>\n
Something damn near perfect, as it turns out.<\/p>\n
From Omaha by way of Stockholm comes First Aid Kit, the Swedish folk duo of sisters Johanna and Klara Svderberg, whose second album The Lion\u2019s Roar is as ebullient as it is earnest. Produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes), the result is an Americana (Swedishana?) piece of heaven, as the sisters\u2019 stirring storytelling ebbs and flows with the gentle strings and slide guitars. It succeeds in extremes \u2014 it\u2019s warm and cheery, dark and dour \u2014 an impressive feat of music from women just entering their 20s.<\/p>\n
The first three songs are stunning, the best trio of opening tracks I\u2019ve heard in some time. The title track moves along in a spirited country waltz, as Klara takes first lead with her clipped Appalachian gait joined shortly by Johanna\u2019s smooth, harmonic stride. It explodes in a wealth of flutes, trumpets and strings, tempered by the sisters\u2019 soothing voices. \u201cEmmylou\u201d follows, a touching love song which has the two wearing their heroes on their sleeves (Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, June Carter and Johnny Cash), their hearts on their pedal-steel guitars. \u201cIn the Hearts of Men\u201d rounds out the terrific trio, a lush and ethereal tune which drifts into Julee Cruise territory.<\/p>\n
Roar is unable to keep a level as high as the opening flourish, but does maintain a steady plane of excellence. \u201cBlue\u201d is playful, employing a glockenspiel for a jaunty romp; \u201cTo A Poet\u201d is stripped bare, allowing the sisters\u2019 voices to take center stage and flex their worth; and \u201cNew Year\u2019s Eve\u201d has Klara and a zither sharing time for a song about California. \u201cKing of the World\u201d brings in Mr. Bright Eyes himself, Conor Oberst, for an album-ending romp complete with mandolins, violins and hand-claps.<\/p>\n
The Lion\u2019s Roar is crisp and clear with a glint of classic country, perfectly mastered and sharply produced. In the Svderberg sisters, Americana has found a fresh voice rooted from beyond its usual borders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I know what you\u2019re thinking: What do Sweden and Nebraska have in common? Funny you should ask. There\u2019s climate for one, as the two share similar summer (July average 75) and winter temps (January average 23). Nearly 5 percent of Nebraska\u2019s population is of Swedish descent, and both spots claim a bevy of Lutherans. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[261,262],"class_list":["post-1171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-first-aid-kit","tag-the-lions-roar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1173,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171\/revisions\/1173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}