How First Aid Kit's latest album brought them back to the music they grew up with

There's an unwritten rule in the music industry for promising young artists: You have a lifetime to make your first album, and one to two years to make your next one.

Stockholm-born sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg got started early and have just kept going. The dynamic country-folk duo better known as First Aid Kit began their musical career in 2007 by uploading songs to Myspace and submitting them to local radio station. They were just teens — Johanna was 17 and Klara only 14 — but by 2008, they had signed onto Rabid Records for their debut EP, "Drunken Trees."

Fifteen years later, the sisters have families of their own, music is their career and like the rest of the world, they're working on finding a work-life balance. Klara is the lead vocalist who adds the subtle yodel that adds nuance to each song, but both women are accomplished guitar players (among other instruments) whose vocals are at the center of their magic.

After "The Big Black and The Big Blue" (2010), "The Lions Roar" (2012), "Stay Gold" (2014) and "Ruins," (2018), First Aid Kit released their fifth album, "Palomino," this past November, and on Wednesday, May 17, they'll take the stage at The Van Buren.

The sisters' love of the country-folk sound, inspired by the likes of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, initially arose as a form of rebellion against their parents' musical tastes, which included artists like Nirvana, Pixies and Patti Smith. But on "Palomino," First Aid Kit's vibe trends more toward the '80s sounds they have long eschewed.

For "Palomino," First Aid Kit employed the production savvy of veteran Swedish guitarist Daniel Bengston at his Studio Rymden in Stockholm. The 11-track album departs from steel-pedal folk-country and embraces a fuller sound of orchestration. It's also a remarkable, gutsy departure from the comfortable country and folk-tinged love songs toward songs from their own experiences, with hopeful and appreciative tones. The themes on "Palomino" are a sense of empowerment, lessons learned, self-exploration and maturity.

Recently, Phoenix New Times spoke cross-continentally with First Aid Kit at home in Sweden. Quotes have been edited for length

Phoenix New Times: This gift you two have of harmonizing goes beyond practice. How did it develop?
Klara Soderberg: It felt like it was kind of given to us. We just sat one day and sang ... but I’m realizing that's probably not true. We did work on it. But it didn’t feel like work. It’s something that we’ve improved throughout the years. But I think blood harmonizes.

How did an affinity for American culture and music become such a beacon for your music?
Johanna Soderberg: We’ve always been fascinated with American culture and growing up, it was kind of everywhere. We watched American films and TV growing up. It’s just a part of our culture. We definitely fell in love with folk and country music when we were young teenagers. It weirdly felt familiar. It felt like home. It was never thought about the fact that it was American, it was just music. That’s what music is: It doesn’t have borders.

Can you share your initial experience of love for the American West, following in the footsteps of Gram Parsons and many others to the Joshua Tree near the Mojave Desert and the deserts of Arizona?
JS: Coming from Sweden, we have our forest, but just that kind of landscape is just so exotic to us. For us, we found it really very inspiring in terms of our creativity, like being in that environment.
KS: It’s a very spiritual place for me, like a spiritual home. I don’t know ... it’s just very exotic. In Arizona, I remember us driving through on tour just seeing those landscapes and being just absolutely awestruck by it.

As teenagers you rebelled against your parents’ music — the Pixies, Nirvana, Patti Smith — and were drawn to country and folk performers. What turned you around?
KS: So, it was something that we associated with our parents. But then as grow older you realize, I guess you don’t have to be so narrow-minded when it comes to music. We’re willing to take more risks, as we get older.

'Out of My Head,' the second single off "Palomino," is pure gold. It has all the elements of a pop hit. How did you recruit Bjorn Yttling for this specific track?
JS: With Bjorn, it was really special because we have never written for First Aid Kit with anyone else. It was me and Klara writing all the songs, and we were really proud of that. We felt like it was time to mix it up and bring someone else in. We’re just huge fans of his work with Peter Bjorn and John.

So, we knew of him before, and I think he just has a great sense of songwriting, and we speak the same language, very simple and pop-oriented. ['Out of My Head'] I think took about an hour. I think he’s just the kind of guy that brings that out in us. He makes us calm. It was kind of a moment where he was playing guitar, and Klara, you were singing. I actually have his voice memo. It was like a stream of consciousness coming from you and then we just finished it.

How did 'Kids in Love,' the collaboration with Pink, come about?
KS: We’ve known that she was a fan of ours for a while, and we listened to her music growing up. We basically had her poster on our wall growing up. Years ago, she asked us to open up for her, and we couldn’t do it. And we met at the Brit Awards, and then we went to see her play in Stockholm. We talked about writing [music]. And then this was during the pandemic, so we never actually met up.
I wrote 'Kids in Love' in Stockholm with two wonderful songwriters/producers. I had no intention of singing on it, to be honest. And then we sent it, and she loved it, and then she asked us to sing, and we were like, "hell yeah."

After your mini tours in the U.S., Canada and Europe, what's next?
KS: We need some time [off]. We already have ideas for the next record and kind of where we want to do it, and what it’s going to sound like. There’s a seed that’s growing. It’s grown. But we need that time [off], yeah.