First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar by Wichita Recordings

First Aid Kit premiered the title track off their upcoming sophomore full-length album The Lion’s Roar yesterday on NPR’s All Songs Considered Blog. Described as “more than just a pretty song…a piercing ballad about the pain and frustration of lost love”. A single of “The Lion’s Roar” will be available digitally and as a 7-inch at the band’s shows beginning November 8th. The 7-inch will also be available at independent retailers on December 6th. The Lion’s Roar LP will be released January 24th, 2012 on Wichita Recordings.

After a short run of UK dates with Lykke Li beginning late this month, First Aid Kit will head westward in November for a US tour also supporting their fellow Swede. These US dates include two headlining shows as well: on the 8th at The Troubadour in Los Angeles and on the 16th at the Mercury Lounge in New York. The show at the Mercury Lounge is an early show (6:30PM doors) at First Aid Kit is playing with Alessi's Ark. Advanced tickets are $15.

The band will then return to Europe for another six dates in late November/early December. Last month, First Aid Kit – who recently performed a moving rendition of Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot” at the Polar Music Prize awards ceremony – spent two weeks touring the US with Bright Eyes. A current itinerary is below.



The follow up to last year’s highly-praised debut LP The Big Black & The Blue, The Lion’s Roar finds sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg at their finest, singing bittersweet songs that frequently juxtapose sadness and beauty. Whether the title track opener, the achingly lovely “Emmylou”, or the exuberant final track “King Of The World” (featuring Conor Oberst and The Felice Brothers), the Söderbergs’ evocative, preternatural harmonies and remarkable songwriting take centerstage throughout the album.

First Aid Kit recorded The Lion’s Roar with producer Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes and Monster Of Folk; producer of Cursive, Lightspeed Champion, Pete Yorn, and many others) in May at his ARC Studios in Omaha, NE. In addition to Klara (vocals, guitar) and Johanna (vocals, autoharp, keys), the album features their father Benkt on bass and Mattias Bergqvist on drums, while Mogis, Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes), and a cast of Omaha-based musicians further round out the sound.

Earlier this year, First Aid Kit released a Third Man Records Blue Series 7-inch single featuring covers of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Universal Soldier” the classic blues standard “It Hurts Me Too”, recorded with Jack White at his own Third Man Studios in Nashville, TN.

First Aid Kit Tour Dates:
OCT. 30 -- GLASGOW, UK -- ABC*
OCT. 31 -- MANCHESTER, UK -- ACADEMY 2*
NOV. 1 -- LONDON, UK -- ROUNDHOUSE* (sold out)
NOV. 7 -- POMONA, CA -- FOX THEATER*
NOV. 8 -- LOS ANGELES, CA -- THE TROUBADOUR
NOV. 9 -- OAKLAND, CA -- FOX THEATER*
NOV. 11 -- DENVER, CO -- OGDEN THEATER*
NOV. 13 -- MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- FIRST AVENUE*
NOV. 14 -- CHICAGO, IL -- VIC THEATER*
NOV. 15 -- TORONTO, ON -- SOUND ACADEMY*
NOV. 16 -- NEW YORK, NY -- THE MERCURY LOUNGE
NOV. 17 -- MONTCLAIR, NJ -- WELLMONT THEATER*
NOV. 19 -- ASHEVILLE, NC -- ORANGE PEEL*
NOV. 20 -- ATLANTA, GA -- BUCKHEAD THEATER*
NOV. 21 -- NEW ORLEANS, LA -- TIPITINA’S*
NOV. 28 -- STOCKHOLM, SE -- MOSEBACKE
NOV. 30 -- GÖTEBORG, SE -- NEFERTITI
DEC. 2 -- MALMÖ, SE -- VICTORIATEATERN
DEC. 5 -- BERLIN, DE -- BERGHAIN KANTINE
DEC. 6 -- LONDON, UK -- BUSH HALL
DEC. 8 -- AMSTERDAM, NL -- PARADISIO
* supporting Lykke Li

Links:
First Aid Kit