Music & Culture

At Long Last, First Aid Kit Returns With 'It's A Shame'

by Stephen Thompson

First Aid Kit's new single is titled "It's a Shame."
First Aid Kit's new single is titled "It's a Shame." Courtesy of the artist

Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg got their start singing slight-but-pretty covers on YouTube, but their work as First Aid Kit has only grown deeper and richer as their careers have progressed. Stay Gold, from 2014, is particularly striking: a set of countrified folk songs whose dense, rich harmonies conceal compassionate observations and a set of sharp teeth.

The intervening years have had First Aid Kit touring, recording guest spots and releasing a prominent protest single. But the duo clearly has an album cooked up, if today's release of a new song called "It's a Shame" is any indication. It's a slick and billowy confection which, true to the M.O., applies layers of winsome charm to potent, melancholy insights about searching for an identity amid fleeting romance.

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