Jaako Eino Kalevi is a Finnish dream pop and electro musician. He lives in the same indie realm as previously reviewed artists Cate Le Bon and Pat Moon. This is Kalevli’s first full length album and it’s brimming of lush aural delights and lunar daydreams.
Kalevi’s distinctively long blonde tresses make him look like an ideal pop album model. However he still maintains a down-to-earth day-job as a tram driver in Helsinki.
The two worlds may not be so incongruous. There is a sense of spacey expansiveness and a cruisy up-beat driving music vibe to his sound that could have been influenced by Kalevi’s day job.
Like many other Finnish musicians, Kalevi grew up listening to metal and was particularly influenced by the band Dream Theatre along with some hip-hop sounds. There is a French electro musical influence here, with shadings of (late 90’s era) Daft Punk and Dimitri of Paris and Cassius but with a more glacial and spacey Scandivanian jazzy, dream pop sound over the top – reminiscent of múm or Peter, Bjorn and John, with soft and fuzzy edges.
Jaako Eino Kalevi’s self-titled album sounds a lot like a downtempo and dreamy album by Bryan Ferry from the early 80’s. There’s a sense of time-travelling into the album’s swirling synth and guitars and Kalevi’s quavering smoky voice would sit comfortably in a basement bar at 3 am. An easy elegance and a playful romantic vibe comes to mind like in Don’t Stop the Dance by Bryan Ferry or Rikki Don’t Lose that Number by Steely Dan.
Buy the album on iTunes
Content Catnip 
Had never heard of this thanks for the recommendation! What would you say is the best track?
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