Jaakko Eino Kalevi returns with the announcement of his new album Chaos Magic, due for release on November 17th via Weird World. A double-album of elemental pop and baroque electronics, laced with melody and mystery, it’s the Finn’s wildest statement yet.
Alongside the album announcement, Jaakko also releases the searing synth-led new single, “I Forget”. Featuring guest vocals from Sigurlaug Gísladóttir, it’s an alluring sonic journey and insight into the dazzling, confident sonic world that Jaakko creates. “It is about blacking out and forgetting everything – who you are, where and why,” says Jaakko. “It might sound serious but it’s fun when it’s connected to this beat.”
Directed by cinematographer Frank Holbein, the video for “I Forget” is a neon-filled, trippy representation of a night out where you’re never quite sure what’s going on. “The idea for the video is that the main character is always forgetting who he is, and ends up being different characters living different lives,” says Jaakko. “The idea comes from when I was playing in Egypt a couple of years ago. I passed out on a beach chair after the show. When I woke up, I had memories from some other place and I didn’t know where I was, and why. Then I called my sister and she told me, and it was alright again.”
Largely written and recorded in his new home of Athens, Chaos Magic plots a thrilling course through the Jaakko universe, drawing on cosmic jazz, dub reggae, neon synthpop, tender ballads and space-rock nirvana. It features musical contributions from the French actress and singer Alma Jodorowsky, Jimi Tenor, Faux Real, Yu-Ching Huang and John Moods.
Stylistically, the album covers a lot of ground, from the ice-cool new-wave of “I Forget” and delirium of “Dino’s Deo” to the evocative disco of “Galactic Romance” and “Night Walk”. Taking shape over the past two years, initial demos for the album were made at various spots across Europe – at artist residencies in Geneva and Maajaam, Estonia, and in studios in Berlin and the Greek island of Hydra – before being developed in Athens at Mutual Sound Studios, a place close to Jaakko’s heart, run by his friend Teemu Takatalo, who co-produced and mixed Chaos Magic alongside Jaakko.
An album very much founded in the beauty of collaboration and, in Jaakko’s words, “a ‘back to the roots’ album”, Chaos Magic “is a collection of songs from a certain period without trying to tie them together”. Inspired by his new home and the Greek word kháos, “meaning an abyss or void that was created when Earth and Heaven were separated”, the eclectic, wondrous sounds of the album find beauty in the chaotic nature of the everyday.
Welcome to Jaakko Eino Kalevi’s garden of earthly delights!
In celebration of the album’s announcement, Jaakko will play a show at London’s Servant Jazz Quarters and Berlin’s 8MM. Tickets on sale now for London here and tickets on the door for the Berlin show.
Upcoming live dates
14th August – Servant Jazz Quarters, London
15th August – 8MM, Berlin
Chaos Magic tracklisting:
- Chaos Magic
- Drifting Away
- Dino’s Deo
- Hell & Heaven
- Night Walk
- Palace In My Head
- I Forget
- The Chamber of Love
- Cyborg
- L’horizon
- Galactic Romance
- Trouble Man
- Let’s See How Things Go
Chaos Magic is available to pre-order now in standard vinyl, standard vinyl + exclusive signed postcard and gatefold CD wallet + 16-page lyric booklet. Pre-order: Dom Mart | Digital.