Today's Pick

First Aid Kit get a natural yet vintage makeover in the folk-pop Swedish duo's new autumnal video for "Stay Gold," the Americana hymn that serves as the title track from Swedish indie folk duo's third studio album, a 13-piece orchestra and masters the art of sophisticated sadness which is more about their own life than their previous ones. For First Aid Kit, gold isn’t about specie, fame, or success. It's something much more precious. The singing and songwriting sisters have a knack for transmuting the common into the extraordinary.
Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg have taken what, in the era of TV talent shows and Internet stars, has become a rare path to major-label success. Finds their close harmonies as honey-drenched as ever, "Stay Gold" is a brief cloud over a lovely record that is the aural equivalent of lying in a sunny meadow, with rich texture of classic country instrumentation and stirring string arrangements, matching their soaring vocal melodies.
Like their "My Silver Lining" clip, this one gets lots of mileage from images of both sisters breezing through the shadowy and saturated woodsy landscapes. Inspired by the song itself, which is about fleeting beauty and potential futility and recounts the impermanence of all things such as love and friendship, the Alex Southam-directed clip, shot on the picturesque Swedish island of Gotland with vintage filmmaking, is strewn with a handful of contrasting and albeit gorgeous. There are radiant suns/shadowy cliffs; pristine waves/dead autumn leaves; and the soft glow of twilight/the cold stillness of night. The video matches perfectly with the ethereal and soothing sound that First Aid Kit are known for.

Swedish indie folk-pop duo First Aid Kit made big waves around the world in 2012 when haunting single "Wolf" caught the attention of indie bloggers and alternative radio stations. The Söderberg sisters Klara and Johanna are now gearing up to release their upcoming third LP, "Stay Gold," due June 10 and unveiled new summery video for sublime lead single/album opener "My Silver Lining," a song about finding yourself on the road, where the Soderberg sisters sing about voices calling and "keep on, keepin' on." It sounds simple enough, but that's what they do best: explore simple Americana notions through lush harmonies.

It's hard to image a more lush or evocative summer soundtrack than First Aid Kit's latest haunting country tune. Drenched in strings, "My Silver Lining" is true to the band's folk roots but their canvas is now a little broader musically and that chorus/those gorgeous harmonies could well find a home on pop radio. "It's a song about searching for a reason to keep on keeping on, to find that good that comes with the bad," the Americana-styled folk-harmonizing sisters explained in a press release about their brilliant folk-pop anthem. "We wanted to create a piece that was dark yet uplifting at the same time."
"My Silver Lining" marries disco, folk and a western twang for a distinctly vintage country swing vibe that seems to pay homage to both Harry Nilsson and Rumors-era Fleetwood Mac. Here, First Aid Kit further refine their blend of rootsy Americana, channeling their inner Johnny Cash over a mix of rumbling guitars and sweeping strings. While the orchestration lends a sense of grandiosity and romanticism, the siblings remain thoroughly connected to folk and country's core of straight-ahead heartache and forlorn, even amid somewhat more optimistic fare.
Filmed at the Paramour Mansion in Silver Lake, L.A. by Elliott Sellers, the visually lush clip followed by ghostly versions of themselves and their travels as the ornate mansion seems to come alive, doors open unexpectedly, dishes crash, summoning lightning with their hands and everything is a little hazy. It fits perfectly with unsteadying feel to the song's woozy, eerie Americana vibe. "We wanted to create an intriguing and mysterious world where everything is slightly off and the mansion slowly comes to life," said the sisters. "The idea of things in life changing, even scaring you, but still having to carrying on despite it all is a theme in the song, which we wanted to convey in the video."

The Civil Wars used lost footage from their trip to Paris in March 2011 for "Dust to Dust," the third single off their self-titled sophomore album released last August. The song was used in the 2013 horror/drama remake "Carrie," as well as the ABC Family TV Show, "Ravenswood." In their new video, the defunct folk duo Joy Williams and John Paul White take to the streets of Paris, where we find White alone in a cafe, sipping espresso and penning a letter he ultimately hesitates to send once at the mailbox. His former bandmate Williams is also alone with her thoughts, sipping wine at a bar.
But they're not kept apart for long. Much of the video intersperses shots of the two in the studio together with scenes of them roaming the Paris streets. And for a moment, they look to be in perfect harmony. Even the most romantic city in the world can feel lonesome and uninviting, as you can see in The Civil Wars' latest video, "Dust to Dust." Set in Paris on a drab winter day, the embattled bandmates go about their separate yet hopelessly-intertwined lives, all the while pining for something more.The folk band duo wrote this anthem for the lonely late one night in Birmingham, England. "Sometimes you come across somebody who thinks they are hiding their pain, but if we are all honest, nobody is very good at it," Williams explained. "You're like a mirror, reflecting me / Takes one to know one, so take it from me." According to Williams, when she penned this song with White, they "decided to change the pronoun at the end of the song. We wanted to represent that we all experience loneliness in our lives."
The video's footage was filmed in Paris by Becky Fluke in March 2011 and at The Art House studio by 1504 Pictures in September 2012. Sung in a near-whisper and backed by a tiptoeing combination of guitar and drums, the two characters in the song seem almost afraid to let their guard down. Since the duo announced their abrupt hiatus in the middle of their European tour last November, that tension probably didn't require a lot of acting. "When we re-discovered what we'd once thought to be lost footage from two years ago, these forgotten images from a trip to Paris strangely seemed fitting for the feel of 'Dust To Dust,' says Williams. "For me, it's like stepping back in time."

A bit of good news for folky roots-music fans, The Civil Wars are back with a studio cut clip for their new single, "The One That Got Away," the lead single off their upcoming sophomore self-titled album, is due out August 6. The acclaim for country-folk duo The Civil Wars is probably as high today as it's ever been. They've won Grammys, they've recorded with T-Bone Burnett and Taylor Swift, and their debut album "Barton Hollow" has been certified Gold. The trouble is, the two bandmates Joy Williams and John Paul White appear not to be in a place where they can truly enjoy their well-earned success.
In creating the song, Williams and White just poured the amazing passion they have for music and the band as well as all of the angst and stress they have been feeling into one perfect song about lost love. It is completely stripped of any excessive production so prevalent in music today. What we get is a heartbreaking story about the two people who are singing. The tension builds to the chorus where they end up wailing in a beautifully haunting harmony, "Oh, I wish I'd never, ever seen your face," Williams sings over hard-strummed acoustic guitar, "I wish you were the one that got away."
And while the song is simplistic in its approach, so is the video for this studio cut. It isn't high concept but is as painful as it is beautiful. More of a behind-the-scenes-type presentation, it consists mostly of a series of shots showing Williams and White recording the song in the studio. But it's a painful video to watch because it gets directly at your heart and stays there, as it seems to show that whatever rift exists between these two talented musicians is heartbreakingly real. For starters, as Williams and White harmonize beautifully on the song's often-painful lyrics, they never look each other in the eye. Glances are made back and forth, but there's a connection that's missing.
The Civil Wars have put everything they've got into their new single, "The One That Got Away." What we get is an amazing look at the anatomy of a band on the verge of a break-up. Then again, perhaps we shouldn't get carried away just yet: Judging by "The One That Got Away," not everything is heirloom peaches and artisanal cream between Williams and White now. Whether this is manufactured to emphasize the melancholy mood of the song, or is simply the way things are between them these days, we may never quite know. But either way, "The One That Got Away" is a haunting song you won't soon forget.

Holding us over until his vocal chords gets back in tip-top shape, John Mayer released his new music video for his latest ditty, "Queen of California," the second single from his fifth studio album, "Born and Raised," which marks yet another change in Mayer's musical style, incorporating musical elements of folk and Americana that take influences from Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Crosby and Graham Nash.
The track, a mildly country vibe, is a bit folkier than his usual bluesy, jazzy style, harkening back to the AM radio sounds of the 1970s. "Queen of California" also references Joni Mitchell, is cut straight from the Laurel Canyon of the early 70s with its gentle, acoustic start, a loose, jammy veneer and honey-sweet harmonies. Describing the song as a "relieving breath of fresh air," Mayer told NPR that the tune is about "being able to have a hopeful vibe about something again.
Mayer worked with director Sam Jones in capturing a natural set, which appears to be one long continuous take in which the 34-year-old singer crooner enduring a variety of weather phenomenons and musical happenings as he makes his way from the cold northern region to greener pastures and a warmer SoCal climate, including the snow-capped Rocky Mountains and New York City's hustle and bustle. That is until he finally reunites with his band on the set of the music video for the song.
The blues rocker goes through his own westward expansion on this low-key video, which matches the laidback feel of the song, and he's never made a leisurely stroll through scenery look more poignant, let alone visually arresting. Mayer is still trying to recover from a vocal injury that has forced him to take an indefinite hiatus from live performances. According to the singer's Tumblr blog, he is going in for surgery at the end of August. He adds, "but I'm excited to get back to it next year."

First Aid Kit are back with a new utterly beautiful music video for their breezy pop radiation of current single, "Blue," the third single taken from their recent excellent second LP, "The Lion's Roar." a record so bursting full of alternative folk rock that it sounds as though it were spawned from the loins of the dusty midwest, belying the two bashful Scandinavian women, are undoubtedly one of the hottest sister duos around right now in every sense of the word.
The Comet favorite, First Aid Kit, a Swedish indie/folk duo consisting of the young sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, whose close vocal harmonies and woodsy, folk-influenced songwriting take influence from the likes of Fleet Foxes and Joanna Newsom. The sisters manage to so effortlessly create a timeless sound that is vulnerable yet musically mature can only be commended, and thoroughly enjoyed. Transcending the expectations of the listener.
The pair's newest song "Blue," is full of haunting nuance and the video is positively as beautiful as it is haunting. The track has providing a stunning example of what lies in wait on the album. According to Klara, many songs on "The Lion's Roar," are based on universal emotions: "'Blue' is about this woman who looking back at her life and regretting the things she didn't do. We sort of write about our fears of the future and regrets we may have kind of as a warning to ourselves - 'Don't become these people', rather than just 'Oh, I'm 19 and I'm scared about the future.'"
The sisters do appear in the Daniel Wirtberg-directed video, but taking center stage is the veteran Swedish actress Ewa Fröling, who stars as a widowed former beauty queen. A touching video showing Fröling going about her daily business and the troubles she has when visiting a local bonfire. The relationship between beauty and age is a finicky thing, but legendary Swedish actress is an exception to the rule, as best exemplified here. Bonfires, Dickensian homes, and snazzy shades add an eerie twinge to this '60s throwback.

The David Wax Museum has premiered a music video on NPR's All Songs Considered blog for their first single, "Born With A Broken Heart" from the band's third album "Everything is Saved," is currently slotted for a February 3rd release. There's no way that you can get away without having a skip in your step after listening to "Born With A Broken Heart." The flamenco style hand clapping intro is a perfect start and even with the topic of being born broken hearted, the Mexican-infused folk track exudes a eminence of hope.
Tagged as "one of Boston's hottest new bands" by The Boston Globe, With its heart-wrenching harmonies, poignant lyrics, The David Wax Museum fuses exuberant Mexican roots music with rockin' country folk reminiscent of old school Jayhawks and early Wilco. Originally from Columbia, Missouri, the band is now based on Boston. The David Wax Museum masterfully blends traditional Irish, classical, and old-time folk with traditional Mexican and American folk/country, folk and rock, creating an utterly unique Mexo-Americana aesthetic songs that bring audiences to their feet with Latin rhythms, call-and-response hollering, and donkey jawbone rattling.
The video for "Born With A Broken Heart," was directed by Dina Rudick, who gave us some background about the thought process behind the shoot: "We didn't want to 'interpret' the song with our music video or overpower its meaning with a heavy-handed concept, but we also weren't interested in a folksy-cool collage of imagery set to a soundtrack. The video has a loose narrative and employes several symbolic through-lines, but we fuzzed out any hard lines of 'definite' meaning so that the video could embody the song: soulful and spunky while remaining lighthearted."
This is one infectious band. Band members David Wax and Suz Slezak are inspired by the folk music of Mexico. Taking about those influences and how they put this video together, Slezak said "It was barely 40 degrees when we climbed into the back of the red pickup truck, teeth chattering, to film our first music video. With a backdrop of perfect New England foliage, we spent two chilly days from dawn to dusk singing our hearts out in a variety of locales." Wax added "Filming part of the music video in the Boston subway station brought me back full-circle to the beginning of my Boston music career. Shortly after giving up on performing in the subways, I started to translate Mexican folk songs into English and began composing on my Mexican guitars, using the rhythms and song structures I had learned in Mexico. Over time, I built up a catalog of Mexo-Americana songs. 'Born With a Broken Heart' is one of those." This video will certain to get your toes-a-tapping!

The little song that could win a very big Oscar! The Texas Country/Americana rodeo bull rider turned singer Ryan Bingham's work on the award-winning movie "Crazy Heart" soundtrack "The Weary Kind" has taken his career to a new level. The song just won Oscar's Best Original Song with legendary T-Bone Burnett last night, follow his Golden Globe award for the same song on January 17. The whole experience is far removed from Bingham's previous life. Believe it or not, just a year ago, the 28-year-old singer and his band were on the road playing gigs all over the country and living out of their van.
If you haven't seen Best Actor Winner Jeff Bridge's brilliant portrayal as the revered down-and-out, country singer Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart," stop what you're doing and go to your local theater and see this movie. The film's soundtrack is a mix of classic country and new tunes written specifically for the film by Bingham, who and his Dead Horses serve as Bridges' backing band in the film as well. Bingham said, during a recent stop in Chicago. "It was a wonderful experience working with everyone involved with the film, and this is a great payoff."
It's been a whirlwind few years for Bingham who has spent most of his life on the road, first on the rough-and-tumble rodeo circuit, then moving from town to town on the equally volatile roadhouse musical circuit. Those travels have given him plenty of material to draw from and plenty of reason to stop for a moment to dig in his heels and take a stand. "With all that's happened politically and economically in the last couple of years, I felt like there was a lot to say," Bingham explains. "As a young person, I felt like it was time to get involved, to write something that wasn't just about Saturday nights in bars. And as far as Dylan? Things that were happening back then are still happening. Things keep repeating themselves."
Burnett first heard of Bingham through filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who suggested he check out the work of the younger artist. Burnett liked what he heard, so he and director Scott Cooper suggested Bingham attempt to write a song for the movie. Bingham went on the road with his band, the Dead Horses, and returned with a rough draft of "The Weary Kind." Bingham's whiskey-soaked vocals perfectly fit the movie, and the song takes you straight into the heart of the movie's main character and his weathered voice makes the emotion of the song inescapable and you feel like you've walked in Bad's shoes. Bingham knows how to make the lyrics of his Texas inspired songs seasoned and full of life. Now, teamed up with his band The Dead Horses, I'm sure to see more great things from this outlaw of an artist.