“Tell your secrets to the night” –KALEO
“Tell your secrets to the night” –KALEO; or, Iceland Has Some Damn Good Music
By now, you know how much I love music. My Spotify is a smorgasbord ranging from pop music to film scores to indie rap. However, the most unique kind of music that can be found on my Spotify is Icelandic blues rock. Pretty cool, huh?
I forget how I discovered them—I’m sure it was through the radio—but KALEO is now my favorite band. You might have heard their song “Way Down We Go” on the radio or in TV shows or movies. Not enough people know about them, so when someone asks me what my favorite band is, I can be the coolest person in the room and say KALEO, an Icelandic blues rock group. (I’m just kidding about being the coolest person in the room… maybe.)
While they only have two albums out (A/B and Surface Sounds), their discography has a little bit for everyone. You want to slow dance with someone? Listen to “Save Yourself” or “I Want More.” You want to rock out by yourself in your car? Listen to “Break My Baby” or “No Good.” Unfortunately, KALEO has only released one song in Icelandic: “Vor í Vaglaskógi.” Its literal translation to English means “Spring in Vaglaskogur.”
I can’t even tell you how many times I have listened to their albums. Their music is comforting to me. I hope I can see them in concert someday—I know that they would be an amazing group to see live.
The two albums are pretty short, only 10-11 songs each, but if you want some individual recommendations, here are my top 5 favorite songs by KALEO:
Way Down We Go [link]
Vor í Vaglaskógi (if you watch this music video, turn on the closed captioning and you can read the English subtitles as the song plays)
Into My Mother’s Arms [link]
Break My Baby (this live version is absolutely gorgeous and filmed in Iceland!)
No Good [link]
You can find them on Spotify and YouTube, and pretty much anywhere else where you listen to music!
(P.S. While writing this blog post, I discovered that the band Of Monsters and Men was also formed in Iceland and is a folk rock band. BRB while I obsess over another band from Iceland!)