Stay Gold (First Aid Kit album)

Stay Gold
Studio album by First Aid Kit
Released	6 June 2014
Recorded	ARC Studios, Omaha, United States[1]
Length	38:25
Label	Columbia Records (US)
Producer	Mike Mogis
First Aid Kit chronology
The Lion's Roar (2012) Stay Gold (2014)
Singles from Stay Gold
"My Silver Lining" Released: 31 March 2014 (2014-03-31) "Cedar Lane" Released: 6 May 2014 (2014-05-06)

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Daily Telegraph	[4]
The Guardian	[5]
The Independent	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
MusicOMH	[8]
NME	8/10[9]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]

Stay Gold is the third studio album by Swedish indie folk duo First Aid Kit. The album was produced by Mike Mogis, who worked on the band's previous album, The Lion's Roar. The album was released on 6 June 2014 in mainland Europe and the following week elsewhere.

According to an interview in Swedish TV webpage, the album is more about their own life than their previous ones. "That one has to learn appreciate what is and that all flows, that nothing stays".^[12] Stay Gold introduced new elements to First Aid Kit's music, such as a 13-piece orchestra. Their previous albums had been produced in such a way that would allow the band to perform with 3 people on stage, however these limitations have been lifted to give the band a bigger, more fulfilling sound.

Critical reception

The album received acclaim from many music critics, gaining an overall metacritic score of 80, indicating generally favorable reviews.^[2] Scott Kerr of AllMusic noted that the album is "noticeably more expansive than any of their previous work", and "has a rich texture of classic country instrumentation and stirring string arrangements, matching their soaring vocal melodies."^[3] The music review site MusicOMH complimented on the larger sound that came from the band utilising more instruments, as well as the sister's "new-found, beefed up timbres". It also described the album as "[P]erfectly poised to knock you for six this summer".^[8] Andy Gill of The Independent judged the album "an engaging, youthful and thoughtful folk-rock",^[6] although James Hall of The Daily Telegraph thought the album "closer to country than folk", and wondered if "it’s aimed at cracking the United States".^[4] Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork thought that the Söderbergs sisters "remain romantics in an unromantic world, not only writing lyrics about fighting the good fight but making the kind of wide-eyed, ‘70s-tinged folk-rock that thrives on soaring vocals, warm harmonies, big choruses, and heart-on-sleeve lyrics." He also considered the album "certainly their grandest and arguably their most consistent release to date".^[10] Leonie Cooper of NME thought that the duo had mastered "the art of sophisticated sadness", and "carefully crafted a tender batch of songs that disarm not only with their beauty but also their honesty."^[9]

A few critics however gave the album a mixed review. Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times found that "the group often sounds more derivative than it does inspired", not helped by its "clumsy lyrics".^[7]

On 10 July, Billboard listed "My Silver Lining" as one of the ten best songs of 2014 (so far) in their Mid-Year Music 2014 list.^[13]

In November 2014, American Songwriter listed Stay Gold at number ten in their 2014 top 50 album list.^[14] On 1 December, Paste Magazine listed it as 9th in their top 50 album list and the song "My Silver Lining" as 19th in their top 50 song list.^[15] The album ranked number seven on Gigwise's 50 Best Albums of 2014.^[16] Rolling Stone magazine listed Master Pretender as 35th in their top 50 songs of 2014 list.^[17] BBC Radio 6 Music listed 'Stay Gold' album as 3rd in their 2014 album list.^[18]

Jessica Goodman and Ryan Kistobak of The Huffington Post included the album on their list of 2014's best releases. Goldman noted that the album sounds "confident" and "more mature" while complimenting that "the duo has settled their folksy sound into a grand and far-reaching formula that delivers real talk lines".^[19]

On February 25 the album won the Swedish Grammis award for 2014 "Album of the Year".^[20]

Track listing

The lengths are from iTunes.^[21][22]

All songs written and composed by written by Klara and Johanna Söderberg. 

Credits

• Klara Söderberg - vocals (1–10), guitar (1–10), percussion (2)
• Johanna Söderberg - vocals (1–10), keyboard (1–10), autoharp (1–10), percussion (2)
• Benkt Sörderberg - bass (1–9), percussion (2)
• Niclas Lindström - drums (1–9), percussion (1–9)
• Brian Sherwood - viola (1, 3, 4, 7, 10)
• Jeffery King - violin (1)
• Mike Mogis - bass (1, 2), percussion (1–3, 5–9), pedal steel (2, 4, 7), Marxophone (2), electric guitar (2, 4, 9), lap dulcimer (2), mandolin (2, 9), programming (3, 5), autoharp (3), acoustic guitar (6)
• Nathaniel Walcott - piano (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10), organ (2, 5, 6, 7, 9), electric piano (5), trumpet (7)
• Paul Ledwon - cello (1, 3, 4, 7, 10)
• Susanna Gilmore - violin (1)
• Ben Brodin - Mellotron (2), vibraphone (8)
• John Klinghammer - clarinet (2–4, 6, 8), bass clarinet (2–4, 6, 8)
• Leslie Fagan - flute (2–4, 6, 8), alto flute (2–4, 6, 8)
• Anna Söderberg - percussion (2)
• Isak Söderberg - percussion (2)
• Dan Fletcher - violin (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Frank Seligman - violin (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Judy Divis - viola (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Juliet Yoshida - violin (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Keith Plenert - violin (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Phyllis Duncan - violin (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Scott Shoemaker - violin (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Thomas Kluge - viola (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Tim Strang - cello (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Tracy Dunn - violin (3, 4, 7, 10)
• Will Clifton - upright bass (3, 10)

• Produced, mixed and engineered by Mike Mogis at ARC Studios, Omaha, NE
• Assistant engineer: Ben Brodin
• Mastered by Doug Van Sloun at Focus Mastering

Charts

The album debuted at No. 1 on the Swedish albums chart. By the end of August, the album was still in the top 3 and had been certified gold; in January 2015, it was still in the top 20 and had accumulated a platinum certification.^[23] It also debuted at No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart, with 11,281 copies sold in its first week.^[24] In the beginning of January 2015 it was certified silver in the UK^[25] and due to the band's Brit Awards nomination and UK tour the album rose again up to the 11th position in the list for two weeks in February 2015. The album got gold record in UK in the beginning of April 2015 after having sold more than 100,000 copies.

In December 2014, worldwide sales were estimated at 200,000 copies.^[26]

References