First Aid Kit – Drunken Trees (2008)

The Swedish duo First Aid Kit has become really popular in recent years and you might even say they're one of the most well-known folk bands in the world today. Drunken Trees is their debut release. It's just an EP, but there are still seven songs on it. I bought this on vinyl where there is also a First Aid Kit's version of the Fleet Foxes song Tiger Mountain Peasant Song as a bonus track. The sound on Drunken Trees is more stripped down and lo-fi than on any of their later albums. Also the album cover is very endearing and it makes it quite clear that this was released before any significant record deals. I didn't know about this EP until many years later. I found the band after their debut full album The Big Black and the Blue, but I didn't buy this EP until very recently when I found it in a London-based record shop with very reasonable price.



On their more recent albums, First Aid Kit has used vocal harmonies really masterfully and the production also been amazingly sharp. On this early EP, the sounds are much more raw, but it's generally-speaking quite a good thing. It's a joy to hear their vocals as they really sound. The songwriting is already really strong on this release as well. Also, you might say that Drunken Trees is the only pure folk release by the duo. The later releases have more pop influences.

The album begins with the starting of a car engine, endearing pianos and spoken word reminiscing of childhood in the song Little Moon. I can clearly see how this kind of song might've been played on acoustic guitars in the summer somewhere in the Swedish countryside when the sun keeps up all night. You're Not Coming Home Tonight already has that trademark First Aid Kit sound we've come to love on their later albums. The only difference is that the song doesn't really gain much more in terms of instruments throughout the song. Although, there are some great bass lines and vocal harmonies that boost the sound as the song goes on. Tangerine is again a bit more stripped song with mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals. There are some glockenspiel and synth sounds in the latter half of the song. Jagadamba, You Might is a great Americana style melancholic folk song that sounds like night scenes around the camp fire. I'm reminded of Bright Eyes quite heavily with this song. Our Pretty Ways has a nice flute-like synth sounds in the background and the song rolls pleasantly. In the chorus we can hear some vocal harmonies that make First Aid Kit so good today. Perviglio is a long lo-fi folk song with instrumentations that sound like they were just recorded simply in a garage somewhere. Cross Oceans has quite a high tempo and the song is kept running by bass, which is quite a unique way to construct a folk song. As I already mentioned, my version of the album ends with First Aid Kit's version of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song. The song is a lot more lo-fi than the Fleet Foxes version, but the vocals sound still gorgeous.

I was surprised to find a music video for You're Not Coming Home Tonight. Or, I'm not exactly sure if it is a music video in a traditional sense. It's a different version than on the EP. The duo is playing in the woods with a guitar and a Finnish traditional instrument kantele. It's crazy to see just how young they are in this video. It's amazing they were this good already at such a young age. I'm getting really nostalgic looking at the scenery in the video, because it looks exactly like the woods where I used to play as a kid.

First Aid Kit has become one of my favourite bands in the recent years. I love all of their albums and I can't wait to hear more from them. I saw them live last year and the gig just made it more clear that I really like this band. Drunken Trees is still a bit raw and unfinished, but it just makes it all the more intimate and endearing.

Listen to the EP on Spotify.