Music review: First Aid Kit, Academy, Edinburgh

With their blend of bittersweet indie-folk and country influences, First Aid Kit have powerful cross-generational appeal, writes David Pollock

First Aid Kit, Academy, Edinburgh ***

“It's so good to be back in Scotland, finally,” noted First Aid Kit – Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg. The band (a quintet on the live stage) travel with four Scots, including drummer Scott Simpson, who’s from Edinburgh, and they feel that Swedes and Scots are kindred spirits. “We have similar mindsets… the good type.”

This shared feeling clearly appeared to be mutual. The Corn Exchange has rarely felt so full, with an audience of all ages packing it to the doors; young fans, who have been with the early-thirtysomething Soderbergs since they started out in their late teens, but also an older audience who have clearly been drawn to them since the success of their last two albums, 2018’s Ruins and last year’s Palomino, in particular.

Klara Soderberg of First Aid Kit PIC: Kate Green/Getty Images

First Aid Kit still bear a heavy frosting of bittersweet indie-folk, but their country influences ring just as truly, which is perhaps why older generations appear to love them just as much. There’s a damaged stoicism to Everybody’s Got to Learn and Rebel Heart, and a dusty country tone to The Lion’s Roar.

Their influences couldn’t be laid barer on Wild Horses II, which takes its cue from a relationship split over whether the Rolling Stones’ or the Flying Burrito Brothers’ version of Wild Horses is better (First Aid Kit prefer the latter), although the melody reminded more of Leonard Cohen’s Tower of Song. The very name of the song Emmylou is a tribute to Emmylou Harris, and at one point they even covered Willie Nelson, a breezy, open-hearted take on On the Road Again.

It was all very pleasant and middle of the road, with a bit of emotional sparkle at the core of the Soderberg’s lyrics and in their heartfelt voices to justify their ever-growing reputation. Yet only on a few occasions – memories of youthful touring with their father which inspired Ghost Town, the sublime lyrical storytelling of King of the World, the tender waltz of Fireworks – did their smouldering talent blaze fully into life.