Surface Sounds KALEO

• 1Brother Run Fast03:43
• 2Break My Baby04:25
• 3Alter Ego04:08
• 4Free the Slave (96 kHz)04:08
• 5Skinny03:42
• 6Hey Gringo04:44
• 7My Fair Lady03:43
• 8I Want More03:32
• 9Backbone03:52
• 10I Walk on Water05:41
• 11Into My Mother's Arms03:16
• Total Runtime44:54

Info for Surface Sounds

After amassing over one billion global streams, one-and-a-half million global album sales with 39 international certifications, and countless sold-out headline shows spanning from London to Moscow, Kaleo wrapped a nearly non-stop three-year touring schedule in support of A/B in October 2018. Since, Julius Son has been in the studio working on the highly-anticipated follow-up, Surface Sounds, and every bit of that live experience is packed into their new album.

That combination of globe-trotting and meticulous tinkering resulted in a spectrum of sounds recorded around the world - in North America, South America and across Europe. Refreshingly free of calculation, with Julius Son allowing each tune to dictate its path while simultaneously leaning-in to his blues, folk and rock inclinations.

The variety of sounds and imagery found in lead singles I Want More and Break My Baby comes naturally, says Julius Son. "I think that's just me growing up as a musician and as a listener. I would get so bored if I had to do the same thing or have to be boxed in and told what to do," he adds of the evolution of Kaleo's sound. "Artistically, there's too many colours to just paint in black and white. So that's just my creative process. I didn't know that I could sing falsetto until I wrote All the Pretty Girls, and I didn't really whistle until I wrote Automobile."

KALEO

Kaleo
Firmly a phenomenon in their home country of Iceland, the four-piece band Kaleo is set to descend upon foreign shores in 2015, bringing their gorgeous blend of folk, blues, country, and rock to a wider mainstream audience in America. Their isolated heritage inspires a unique take on familiar sonic elements, resulting in diversity and freedom on each and every breathtaking track.

Best friends since attending elementary school in the small town of Mosfellsbaer outside of Reykjavik, bandleader JJ Julius Son, drummer David Antonsson Crivello, and bassist Danny Jones began playing together at the age of 17. Honing their skills, they played countless shows around the nation’s capital for a few years before adding guitarist Rubin Pollock to the mix in 2012. They named the band Kaleo, which means “the sound” in Hawaiian, and started their career in earnest with a handful of well-received shows at the 2012 Iceland Airwaves music festival.

They recorded their first pair of original songs in early 2013, the fiery “Rock N Roller” and laid-back, bluesy “Pour Sugar On Me,” which earned Kaleo some radio airplay and press in Iceland. Then, that spring, their cover of the traditional Icelandic ballad “Vor í vaglaskógi” during a live radio show was videotaped and posted to YouTube, where it quickly went viral. The band recorded a studio version of the song in June, which went straight to Number One in virtually every radio station in the country. “It’s a different kind of cover, more dramatic and the tempo is taken down,” says JJ. The buzz for Kaleo had begun.

The band signed to Iceland’s largest record label, Sena, in the fall of 2013 and recorded their full-length debut, Kaleo, in just six short weeks. Five singles would reach Number One and the album would go Gold, receiving high praise and sending the band to shows and festivals in Europe over the next year, including an appearance on the biggest stage in their home country, Culture Night, where they played to 100,000 people and reached 90 percent of Iceland’s population in broadcast. Then, in the spring of 2014, Kaleo recorded the lush, introspective song “All the Pretty Girls” and in one night their destiny to outgrow their small, island nation was cemented. “It’s a very delicate song. It seemed to speak to a lot of people,” says JJ. “From there everything started to happen. We got contacted from other places: managers, labels, publishers—they all went crazy over one night.” Drawn to Kaleo’s multi-layered dynamics, their ability to play different genres with equal skill, the vocals and mood reminiscent of everything from Bon Iver and Iron & Wine to Coldplay and David Gray, and wise-beyond-their-years songwriting, the world came calling.

Now, signed to Atlantic Records in the US, Kaleo has moved to Austin, Texas, and will begin recording new material with producer Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, Jake Bugg) in London for an EP due this year. Get ready for the sound.

This album contains no booklet.