You can't tell the story of First Aid Kit without a few modern conveniences that helped in the process: The Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg began posting their songs through Myspace but found international acclaim through a YouTube video of their cover of a Fleet Foxes tune. The medium may be very Web 2.0, but the sisters' songs speak to a simpler version of roots music. This year's
The Lion's Roar has been winning fans through familial harmonies and a soft touch. That a few Swedes in their early twenties could craft some of this year's best Americana is proof enough that music follows a geography of the soul, not the land.
Name-Check: "Emmylou," a standout from the new album, charts new love with the models set out by the Söderberg sisters' musical heroes: Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, as well as Johnny and June Carter Cash.