KALEO’s JJ Julius Son opens up in regards to the band’s spirited third studio album ‘Blended Feelings,’ which delivers deep reflections on life, society, and as we speak’s world via ten transferring and highly effective rock, blues, and soul-based tracks.
Stream: ‘MIXED EMOTIONS’ – KALEO
Through soul-stirring music, KALEO have been capturing tiny snippets of the human expertise for over a decade.
The Icelandic band’s third studio album, MIXED EMOTIONS (out Could 9th by way of Atlantic Data) doesn’t stray away from that. Quite, it dives even additional into it. Because the file displays on the steadiness between private introspection and societal statement, it brings collectively themes of love, loss, wrestle, and resilience – the complicated set of emotions that make up our existence.
Produced by GRAMMY® Award Winner Eddie Spear (Zach Bryan, Sierra Ferrell) and co-produced by KALEO frontman JJ Julius Son and GRAMMY® Award Winner Shawn Everett (The Killers, Kacey Musgraves), MIXED EMOTIONS takes on American roots with its highly effective mix of rock, blues, and soul. It’s a sound KALEO have experimented with earlier than, and now deliver to the forefront of their artistry. Talking to Atwood Journal, JJ explains that he’s nonetheless rising as a studio artist and producer – and whereas some songs for this album have been round for some time, some are newer. He and Spear have “an unstated language” within the studio that makes for this understanding of capturing music that’s true and sincere.
For JJ, the album’s title bears “a few meanings.”
“Blended feelings, you’ll be able to have enjoyable with that,” he explains. “The music is clearly feelings and also you’re mixing them within the studio, nevertheless it’s blended feelings about as we speak’s society, the music trade now and being an artist in as we speak’s panorama.”
The album begins with “Bloodline,” a rock-infused monitor complimented by gritty vocals and synthy guitar riffs. KALEO set a critical, virtually offended tempo for the remainder of the file, however with calmer moments within the monitor, the title of this album involves fruition and makes its level from the get-go. This additionally holds true for songs like “Rock N Curler” and “Again Door”: As a number of groovy riffs slash throughout every monitor, pure adrenaline rushes in. However based mostly off the album’s tone and title, it’s an adrenaline that’s certain to be brief lived and are available crashing down.
Whereas KALEO’s rock sound is at an all-time excessive, so is their depth and realness. Inside this file, the Icelandic band deal with more durable hitting subjects occurring inside our world. JJ candidly explains that there was lots of daydreaming on this file, and that he let himself get into that move of making tales in his thoughts. “‘Lonely Cowboy,’ you make up this western film in your thoughts,” he says. “However then once more, I additionally like to change gears and do one thing very direct like ‘USA Right this moment.’ I’m addressing issues that I’m watching and seeing each week within the US.”
So right here we’re
Combating for America
Combating for a brand new day
Attempting arduous to alter
USA as we speak
The four-minute “USA Right this moment” displays on the continued gun violence epidemic in america. As JJ was finishing the tune, a taking pictures happened in a close-by Nashville suburb about three blocks away from the studio. “Coming from a particularly peaceable nation, it’s not me attempting to be political or telling anybody that I’ve the answer,” he says. “It’s merely simply, as an outsider trying in a bit bit, it’s surreal.”
In “Run No Extra,” a monitor JJ is happy to play dwell, the album takes on a cinematic factor. By means of a faint sound of nation twang and the tune’s gradual construct up, KALEO present how they’ve mastered the artwork of being and feeling related to music, emphasizing its energy to deliver folks collectively. As JJ sings, “Someday, we are going to rise once more,” sending chills working down listeners’ spines.
“I’m simply hoping and believing that there’s sufficient folks on the market who nonetheless look after this type of music that I’m making,” JJ admits. Creating this album, he notes, was a bit extra of a wrestle because of what appears to be ‘TikTok music’ and a particularly brief listener consideration span. “I suppose I’d take into account myself form of attempting to construct a catalog,” he provides, “which is gratifying if you get to the present since you get to cherry decide your best hits. I nonetheless get pleasure from going and seeing the greats. I noticed AC/DC final summer time and Paul McCartney – it’s superb. Clearly, these folks have such an unimaginable catalog of songs.”
About midway via the album, KALEO attain “Lonely Cowboy,” a tune they launched a 12 months in the past – and one which embodies the essence of loneliness via heart-wrenching lyrics and a slower tempo. This monitor marks a brand new tempo for the remainder of the album, which is rooted in a extra peaceable tranquility and stillness.
Share the silence with a fireplace,
roll the remainder of my tobacco
Tellin’ tales to myself,
however I do know all of them too nicely (mm)
When the desert night time is chilly,
I simply need somebody to carry me shut
I don’t wanna die alone,
who’s gonna love me after I’m gone?
‘Trigger even cowboys can get
lonely on occasion
Even cowboys do get
lonesome generally
Sure, however I, I do know one factor,
I’ve come a lot too far
Oh, to allow you to go now,
please, don’t let me go
Lord, don’t let me go
The next tracks – “The Good Die Younger,” “Legacy” and “Memoirs” – contact on the inspiration of mankind: Life and dying. The band observe the huge array of feelings one may really feel when getting misplaced in thought. In all three songs, there’s this craving for extra time and making absolutely the most of your life.
KALEO shut their third file with “Sofðu Unga Ástin Mín,” a standard Icelandic lullaby – and a good looking tribute to their residence nation. Roughly translated, it means “Sleep My Little Love.” To JJ, it felt like a return-to-roots second. “I’m extraordinarily happy with being from Iceland,” he smiles. “I really like my nation dearly in addition to my language. I suppose I generally really feel a bit responsible not writing extra in Icelandic, however this tune felt like one thing I needed to do. It’s one of many oldest songs in Iceland. We don’t even know who wrote it. It’s a standard tune. It’s been handed between folks for generations. It’s one thing moms would sing to their youngsters in Iceland, together with myself. Technically, it’s the primary tune I’d have ever heard. I at all times cherished this tune, so I actually wished to make my very own model and thought it was a pleasant nearer for the file.”
Coming from the small Icelandic city of Mosfellsbær, a suburb of the capital Reykjavik, KALEO have grown immensely over the previous decade to develop into a globally recognized, critically acclaimed act.
Singing songs of their native language has develop into a spotlight at their reveals, irrespective of which continent they’re on.
“We’ve got one other tune in Icelandic and it’s fairly superb seeing the response,” JJ notes. “Folks simply love that tune. It’s just like the tranquil, quiet second of the present the place folks simply completely keep and hear. I feel they’re affected by each the language and the music. However you’ll additionally go to different international locations, and also you hear folks from everywhere in the world sing alongside to it which is form of humorous but additionally stunning.”
Inside its ten tracks, Blended Feelings showcases KALEO’s selection and flexibility.
It’s an album that pushes the boundaries of being trapped in a single idea or theme. As a substitute, it undertakes an abundance of concepts that pertain to humanity. It grapples with and tries to make sense of life at its core. It’s a file that may sit with you lengthy after you have got listened to it.
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:: stream/buy MIXED EMOTIONS right here ::
:: join with KALEO right here ::
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Stream: “Again Door” – KALEO
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an album by KALEO
