This is a decent record, showing First Aid Kit doing what they do well – channeling their folk and 70s folk rock heroes. They’re channeling pretty hard, it has to be said. So much so that you’re thinking “wait, this sounds hella familiar,” because vibes and chord progressions and vocal melodies and harmony lines are extremely similar to Dylan numbers, or some California 70s rock hit, to a Fleetwood Mac line, and because lyrics reference or namecheck June Carter Cash, The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, or even quote Leonard Cohen.
They’ve gotten so good at evoking their influences that it’s straying a bit from nostalgia and retro to facsimile, and while they’ve become expert in that vein, and while the subject matter takes on new themes (parenting, for one), there isn’t a tremendous sense of musical development from prior records.
Still, it’s a great First Aid Kit record.
ronanconroy 