First Aid Kit will release new album ‘Who By Fire’ on March 26th.
The Swedish group grew up around Leonard Cohen’s music, and were left deeply saddened by his death.
Hosting two special evenings in March 2017 at Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theater, the band reinterpreted the Bard’s work.
Those evenings are captured on ‘Who By Fire’, a “theatrical staging” of Leonard Cohen’s songs, poems, and letters, alongside an eight person band, strings, two actors, and a huge choir.
Re-visiting the tapes, the resulting album lands on March 26th and it’s a salute to Cohen, while also acting as a creative statement in its own right.
“We recently listened back to this concert and realized that this was something out of the ordinary for us. It was a challenge to create a performance that wasn’t centered around First Aid Kit songs. It was something we’d never done before, but everything came together so well.”
“Dwelling deeply into Cohen’s world was a pleasure, he was so prolific as both a poet and a songwriter, and everything he ever put out held a very strong standard. He cared immensely for his work. The band, the guest artists, the atmosphere on stage… everyone had a great passion and it felt magical. This is definitely a record that is best enjoyed listening to back-to-back with no interruptions. Allow yourself to just disappear into Cohen’s world for a little while.”
A live version of ‘Suzanne’ drawn from the album is now online – check it out below.
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