First Aid Kit, or, as most people know, the sister duo from Sweden who has been making some waves these days, have their latest album on the calendar. Stay Gold follows the band’s immensely popular The Lion’s Roar from 2012. The Lion’s Roar has “Emmylou”, the band’s biggest hit. that song is easily a deserving attention-getter. You don’t even have to know the band to be attracted to the song when you first hear it. it just has that charm.
Scheduled for June 10, Stay Gold is the band’s first foray on a major label. The album is tied to Columbia Records, which means that it will get plenty of distribution muscle, although really, that’s not as important too much any more. I picked up my copy on June 4 at the band’s show at Park West in Chicago. Previous to that, First Aid Kit had streamed the entire ten-track album via NPR Radio.
On first listen, the beauty and near perfection of The Lion’s Roar interferes with the ten tracks on Stay Gold. But not for long. Stay Gold is a photo-finish to The Lion’s Roar that could even surpass it once the music from The Lion’s Roar clears out. Stay Gold brings a deeper richness to their song-writing talent. Their ages dictate that they should be writing songs about being a youngster in this grand world of ours. But they opt to introspectively look at the themes of loss, sadness, departure, and other such mature topics. With the magic of their music, they approach those themes with class and depth.
The pre-release single, “My Silver Lining” is great. It has radio written all over it. At this point, there is no need to explore the album’s songs because every one is a gem. I do prefer the last song, “A Long Time Ago”. But in no way does that *slight* preference dictate that I skip ahead to it , or listen to it one more time than the rest. Stay Gold is so good that it can be listened to from track one to track ten.
Going from an upload to YouTube at their start to this Columbia Records album is – all by itself – a testament to the girls’ talents. Me? I cannot recommend Stay Gold enough to you.
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Label: Columbia Records
Website
Availability: CD, DD, LP
–Matt Rowe