Jaakko Eino Kalevi - Jaakko Eino Kalevi (2015)

Jaakko Eino Kalevi, the self titled album, marks the start of a striking new chapter for the Berlin-based artist. The ten-track collection finds Jaakko on spellbinding form, composing sumptuous and wildly original music that teems with ideas and more than delivers on the promise of its predecessor, the breakthrough 2013 EP Dreamzone. From the alluring opener ‘J.E.K.’ to ravishing finale ‘Ikuinen Purkautumaton Jännite’, this is a richly immersive and hyper-vivid record that sparkles with modern pop gems like ‘Double Talk’, and ‘Deeper Shadows’. Throughout, Jaakko cuts a cool, Zen-like figure – a street-smart sage who sings in English but expresses his most intimate thoughts in Finnish. He wrote, performed, recorded and sang almost everything on the record himself with a few guest vocals by Suad Khalifa and Sonja Immonen. The album was mixed in New York by Nicolas Vernhes (The War On Drugs and Run The Jewels) and the warmth he added helped draw the songs together and underlined the unusual, head-turning quality of Jaakko’s songwriting. Even though he covers a remarkable range of styles and moods across the album, it feels beautifully weighted. What strikes you, too, is how ambitious the record is yet how at ease he sounds. Jaakko Eino Kalevi is the most vivid portrayal yet of Jaakko’s sensual world – a Technicolor and wondrous place where everything happens in its own time, and where nature and technology get along harmoniously.

Tracklist:

01. Jek (3:13)
02. Double Talk (3:53)
03. Deeper Shadows (3:33)
04. Say (3:32)
05. Mind Like Muscle (5:51)
06. Night At the Field (3:29)
07. Don't Ask Me Why (4:07)
08. Room (3:43)
09. Hush Down (4:06)
10. Ikuinen Purkautumaton Jännite (6:23)