Kaleo

Delta Blues From the North Atlantic

Kaleo formed in 2012 in Mosfellsbær, just outside Reykjavík, when childhood friends Jökull "JJ" Júlíusson, Davíð Antonsson and Daníel Ægir Kristjánsson began playing together, later joined by Rubin Pollock. The name means "the voice" in Hawaiian.

Their sound is built on American blues, folk and classic rock. Júlíusson's teenage obsession with classic rock records led him into a historian's study of Delta blues, and the band's influences run from Robert Johnson and Son House to Howlin' Wolf, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Resonator guitars and soulful vocals carry much of their material.

Breakthrough

Kaleo broke in Iceland in 2012 with a version of the traditional song "Vor í Vaglaskógi", which became a major radio hit. They signed to the Icelandic label Sena and released a self-titled debut in 2013 that produced five number-one hits and went gold at home.

In 2015 they signed to Atlantic Records and moved to Austin, Texas, later basing themselves in Nashville, and played South by Southwest that year. The 2016 album A/B brought the international breakthrough, built deliberately as an "A-side" of upbeat blues-rock and a "B-side" of softer folk ballads, and carried the multi-platinum single "Way Down We Go".

Recent work

Four studio albums now stand behind them — Kaleo (2013), A/B (2016), Surface Sounds (2021) and Mixed Emotions (2025). They record and tour internationally while still returning to Iceland to rehearse and to draw breath.