{"id":5195,"date":"2021-05-06T07:59:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T06:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=5195"},"modified":"2021-05-06T07:59:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T06:59:55","slug":"familiar-songs-re-invented-in-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2021\/05\/06\/familiar-songs-re-invented-in-the-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"FAMILIAR SONGS re- invented in the moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FAMILIAR SONGS re- invented in the moment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen performed by First Aid Kit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norman Warwick reads great reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Alexandra Pollard<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Something out of the ordinary\u00b4, is how Johanna and Klara S\u00f6derberg described the four Leonard Cohen-themed concerts they played at Sweden\u2019s Royal Dramatic Theatre back in March 2017. They were speaking to journalist Alexandra Pollard (left)<\/em><\/strong> for a piece that appeared in The Independent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sisters contained in First Aid Kit had always loved Cohen\u2019s work, they told Helen Brown in an interview for the Independent. They say that whenever they pick up a guitar for a jam they invariably begin by playing his 1967 song Suzanne. They took that a stage further four months after his death, when they assembled a group of Swedish musicians to help them celebrate Cohen\u00b4s songs and poems. The gold and velvet grandeur of their surroundings added a sense of ceremony to the proceedings, which were broadcast live on Swedish television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
First Aid Kit<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now, more than a year into the pandemic, any gig has become \u00b4something out of the ordinary\u00b4 for all of us. that is why fans of both Cohen and First Aid Kit will be delighted that the concert was captured for recording and \u00a0been preserved for a new release called Who By Fire, recalling the title of one of Cohen\u00b4s best loved songs. While mostly gentle, as if wary of jarring the pandemic\u2019s hush, it offers the best ethos of live music: familiar songs reinvented in the moment. Kit\u00b4s interpretations of Cohen\u2019s deep themes of sex, death, despair and spirituality speak to the moment even as they ensure that his wit and his word wordplay delight us all over again. The band structured the shows like church services, allowing space for music and silence, spoken words and sentences lifted by melody, in what might be a perfect description of gospel music. It\u2019s invigorating, Helen Brown astutely suggests, to hear words we last heard rumbling from the rusty guts of an octogenarian prophet come soaring with sweet, fresh purpose from the mouths of his young disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Aid Kit use a supple, constantly shifting mix of acoustic guitars, pianos, chimes, strings and pounding drums as a lake on which to float the dead man\u2019s words. The work featured in the concerts cover almost the full span of Cohen\u2019s career, stretching from the well-beloved folk songs of the late sixties into the seventies, such as  Suzanne, So Long Marianne and Famous Blue Raincoat, to the synth-backed growl of 2016\u2019s You Want \u00cdt Darker. These are interspersed with poems from his 2006 Book of Longing. <\/em>Many of these will be new to casual fans and First Aid Kit\u2019s sensitive backing arrangements stoke the black coals of his printed words, often raising flames from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times, it feels that Cohen was writing for the world of Black Lives Matter and coronavirus, says interviewer Helen Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is right of course. As Hugh Moffatt has said \u00b4we must intend what we write for light years of travel\u00b4 and on their journey the best songs, the great songs, will address themselves to the issues of time and location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in Tired, Cohen wrote: \u00b4We\u2019re tired of being white and we\u2019re tired of being black, and we\u2019re not going to be white and we\u2019re not going to be black any longer. We\u2019re going to be voices now, disembodied voices in the blue sky, pleasant harmonies in the cavities of your distress. And we\u2019re going to stay this way until you straighten up…\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

InThe Asthmatic, he wrote repeatedly of being unable to breathe and here the assembled artists recite the suffocating text like an accusing Greek chorus. It may be the only track that those bereaved by Covid-19 have to skip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On You\u2019d Sing Too, he reminds us of the beauty of the natural world and how, in isolation, we have no need to compare our voices to those of our rivals. Known to joke that despite his dark themes he was a \u00b4closet optimist, Cohen often spoke of wanting to write a song as joyful as Louis Armstrong\u2019s Wonderful World. Here, with their singing, playing and generosity of spirit, First Aid Kit help him achieve something very like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The ever-lush harmonies of the S\u00f6derberg sisters (left)<\/em><\/strong> are sweet, determined and fierce by turns. On Suzanne they tilt phrases sharply up five notes at the end \u2013 like birds flicking tail feathers. On Everybody Knows, a song Helen Brown perfectly describes as \u00b4the anti-exploitation hymn which Cohen wrote imagining himself as a Humphrey Bogart-esque cynic,\u00b4 they really\u00a0sing<\/em>\u00a0into words Cohen only intoned. On Hallelujah, they eschew the showboating of a hundred talent show contestants for a conversational mutter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere on the album, the women\u2019s voices are balanced by the husky male voices of Jesper Lindell (on Show Me The Place and Chelsea Hotel) and Loney Dear on the thunderous, piano-backed Avalanche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the seven years Cohen spent in a Zen monastery, he learnt that \u00b4monks polish one another, like pebbles in a bag.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sentence that then makes sense of the poet\u00b4s observations Helen points out that the collective spirit of the artists featured in these concerts does the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4They remain distinct voices, but all working the service of one mysterious maker\u2019s art. If Cohen were still alive, he would have loved every note.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

photo 5 With that final sentence to conclude her review article Helen reminds us one last time that this project has all emanated from a generosity of spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, this show of true collaboration on a project patently important to each of them is perhaps not the complete picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another media interview to promote the album, when speaking to Alexandra Pollard of the Independent the girls were quick to point out \u2018We\u2019re not these innocent sisters holding hands \u2013 we\u2019re angry feminist bitches\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although ostensibly speaking to Ms. Pollard about their new Leonard Cohen covers album, they also addressed being young and terrified of making mistakes, and why it\u2019s hard to be angry all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johanna (left) and Klara (right) S\u00f6derberg told the journalist that \u2018it took a long time for us to get that kind of respect that most male bands would have had automatically. We\u2019ve had to fight for it in a different way\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus it was that on International Women\u2019s Day 2017, First Aid Kit<\/a> released a three-and-a-half minute cry of pure rage. \u00b4How did you ever think you had the right to put your entitled hands up her thighs?\u00b4 sang the Swedish sisters on You Are The Problem Here, their voices cracking over vociferous electric guitars. \u00b4I hope you f***ing suffer.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written after the pair read about yet another rape case that came to nothing, the song was a culmination of years of female fury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I think that song really shattered our image of being these two innocent sisters in a forest holding hands,\u00b4 says Klara S\u00f6derberg with a laugh. \u00b4That wasn\u2019t a conscious thing, but that\u2019s just who we are. We\u2019re two angry feminist bitches\u00b4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such fire and brimstone is certainly at odds with how the media painted First Aid Kit when they emerged on the music scene in 2008. Armed with acoustic guitars and mellifluous harmonies, they were described in newspapers as \u00b4Nordic princesses\u00b4 and \u00b4plaid-clad angels\u00b4 who made \u00b4pine-scented folk\u00b4 and whose lifestyle seemed \u00b4a little Brady Bunch\u00b4. Critics treated them with scepticism and condescension, either unable to see beyond the flowing dresses and foliage, (they did seem to hang out in forests an awful lot) or irritated by their precociousness. One critic, deeply offended by the fact two teenage girls had cited Conor Oberst, Karen Dalton and Johnny Cash as influences, described them as \u00b4creepy\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4A lot of women get talked about like\u2026 fairies,\u00b4 says Johanna. \u00b4It\u2019s frustrating because that first impression, that\u2019s the one that sticks.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journalist acknowledges the girls\u00b4 argument that, in reality, there was always a darkness to First Aid Kit\u2019s music. The interviewer recalls their breakthrough single, Emmylou. The crisp, sophisticated folk song about the relationship between Emmylou Harris and the ill-fated Gram Parsons, may have been a starry-eyed love-in, but it also referenced ghosts, deception, and bitter winds that had to be endured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I\u2019m a goddamn coward, but then again so are you\u00b4, the duo sang on the title track of their 2012 album The Lion\u2019s Roar. On its shimmering Americana follow-up, Stay Gold, two years later, the grand arrangements and bright melodies veiled a lingering pessimism. \u00b4I always thought that you\u2019d be here\u00b4 went Master Pretender, \u00b4But s*** gets f***ed up and people just disappear.\u00b4 Pretty bold for Nordic princesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those early years, First Aid Kit struggled to reconcile their music, their image and who they wanted to be as people. They would go to parties \u00b4and there would always be someone who\u2019s like, \u2018Oh you\u2019re in that band!\u2019 says Johanna, who\u2019s 30 now and gave birth to a baby girl over lockdown. \u00b4So you\u2019re just like, Alright, well I don\u2019t want to get drunk and say something stupid. You\u2019re already self-aware as a teenager, then there\u2019s this extra layer of feeling responsibility for the music and the band. Thinking about it now, it\u2019s a bit of a burden.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In interviews, they spoke of preferring board games to partying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u00b4We didn\u2019t drink or do drugs \u2013 I think we were afraid to f*** up,\u201d says Klara. \u201cWe had a lot of values: the music had to be a certain way, we had to dress a certain way, we had to act a certain way\u2026 The older I get, the more broad my view is, the less we judge other people, the less we judge ourselves.\u201d \u201cWe didn\u2019t really have time to be young and f*** up,\u201d adds Johanna. \u201cWe wanted to focus on our music, but it\u2019s something I kind of regret now. I\u2019ve had to do that later in life. We definitely missed out on something.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The duo are speaking to Alexandra over Zoom. Johanna deadpans that they\u2019re in her living room, proudly pointing out the huge poster of Justin Timberlake behind her, but they are in fact in their label\u2019s Stockholm offices. Klara\u2019s dog Pablo, a tiny rescue with an underbite who was found roaming the Spanish streets, sits quietly on her lap. The sisters are wry and forthcoming, occasionally bickering \u2013 \u201cOh don\u2019t say that!\u201d \u2013 but more often egging each other on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
the late Leonard Cohen<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The conference call was to promote the new(ish) record\u00a0Who by Fire. A\u00a0Leonard Cohen<\/a>\u00a0covers album recorded live in 2017, with brooding, beautiful re-imaginings of the poet\u00b4s material complete with a 20-person choir, a conveyor belt of guest artists, voice actors, a string section and an eight-person band. They recorded it the year after Cohen died, over two nights at Stockholm\u2019s Royal Dramatic Theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
live concert for Leonard Cohen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 \u00b4It was so intense,\u201d recalls Johanna. \u201cWe used actors, we had a music director, there was no s***-chatting between songs.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4This was our ceremony for Leonard Cohen, our funeral, our farewell\u00b4, says Klara. \u00b4We tried to imagine that he was in the room when we performed.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have always adored Cohen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4He has the melodies, the lyrics… the face!\u00b4 says Johanna, laughing as though at a private joke. \u00b4There\u2019s political commentary\u00b4, she continues, \u00b4there\u2019s songs about love, about sex, about religion. There\u2019s humour. It\u2019s all in there\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Although he band\u2019s new album \u2018Who by Fire\u2019 (Sony Sweden\/Columbia)<\/em> is a live tribute to the late Leonard Cohen First Aid Kit acknowledge that he wasn\u00b4t perfect. After recording\u00a0Who By Fire, they watched\u00a0Marianne And Leonard: Words Of Love, a documentary about Cohen\u2019s relationship with his \u201cmuse\u201d Marianne Ilhen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I think that\u2019s when we realised how problematic the whole \u2018muse\u2019 concept is,\u00b4 says Johanna. \u00b4I love Cohen but\u2026 that made me actually like him less. He talks a lot about being a ladies\u2019 man. I think a lot of people have romanticised Marianne as a muse and she was basically his housekeeper. Her life was so based on his. It\u2019s kind of sad, that whole story\u00b4.  Then again, she adds, \u00b4I think you should be able to separate work from the person behind it\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is more easily done of men, perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Women are generally expected to be role models, \u00b4princesses\u00b4 and \u00b4angels\u00b4, whose jagged edges have been sanded smooth. For Klara and Johanna, their desire to always be \u201cnice\u201d has often come at the expense of their own comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4You don\u2019t want to be a rude bitch \u2013 you want to be accommodating,\u00b4 says Klara. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in situations with male journalists where they\u2019ve said some really f***ed-up stuff, and you just sit there and you go, \u2018OK, I don\u2019t want to make this into a thing.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve struggled, too, with how to tackle the dreaded \u00b4women in music\u00b4 questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I think men should be talking about it too,\u00b4 says Johanna. \u00b4As a woman, you\u2019re supposed to be the one in charge of the change and that\u2019s not how it should be. It\u2019s hard to be angry all the time. You can\u2019t really walk around with that because you don\u2019t really have anywhere to put it. You also just have to live your life. I think we do our part just by being\u2026 \u00b4females in music!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 She laughs. \u00b4It took a long time for us to get that kind of respect that most male bands would have had automatically. We\u2019ve had to fight for it in a different way. By writing our songs, playing our instruments, and being there\u2026\u00b4 She shrugs. \u00b4I think it makes a difference.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does when the music is as good as theirs. First Aid Kit\u2019s most recent original album, 2018\u2019s Ruins<\/em>, was an expansive collection of torch songs written in the wake of a break-up. On it, Klara turned on herself. \u00b4I give in so easy\/ And I give up instantly\u00b4, she sang on Nothing Has to Be True.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Why do I do this to myself?\u00b4 she asked bitterly on Fireworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4It\u2019s a sad record\u00b4, says Klara. \u00b4Looking back, I\u2019m pretty harsh on myself. I\u2019m blaming myself for a lot of stuff, which is what I do\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4It\u2019s funny you being so hard on yourself\u00b4,  says Johanna, \u00b4because you\u2019re the most considerate person I know. You care so much about what other people think. Almost too much\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klara nods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a8I actually wrote a song called Be Kind, because I just needed to tell myself that after berating myself.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She never released it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The week Ruins<\/em> came out, Johanna also broke up with her boyfriend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4I was really depressed that whole year\u00b4, she recalls. \u00b4Having to sing about it every day was awful. I don\u2019t want to sing about that any more. I want the next thing to be happy\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4It won\u2019t be\u00b4, She laughs. \u00b4We don\u2019t know how to write happy songs\u00b4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00b4This was our ceremony for Leonard Cohen, our funeral, our farewell\u00b4, says Klara. \u00b4We tried to imagine that he was in the room when we performed.\u00b4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5203,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5195\/revisions\/5203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}