Kaleo, Stephen Day, Júníus Meyvant

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courtesy Big Feat

The four members of Kaleo sitting on road cases.

Kaleo

media release: After releasing their monumental third studio album MIXED EMOTIONS via Atlantic Records in May, Icelandic rockers KALEO announced they have added additional dates to their 2025 MIXED EMOTIONS TOUR. 

MIXED EMOTIONS album which was produced by GRAMMY® Award Winner Eddie Spear (Zach Bryan, Sierra Ferrell) and co-produced by frontman JJ Julius Son and GRAMMY® Award Winner Shawn Everett (The Killers, Kacey Musgraves). MIXED EMOTIONS is a landmark rock album tackling themes from ending gun violence to overcoming despair. It even includes a re-imagined version of an Icelandic lullaby (roughly translates to “Sleep, My Little Love”) with “Sofdu Unga Ástin Mín”- a fan favorite that has been sung back to KALEO in countless countries in their own Icelandic language. It’s KALEO’s most ambitious album yet and it hits hard and digs deep in its mission for us to embrace our full spectrum of emotions during these trying times.

“The theme of MIXED EMOTIONS is kind of going through the various mood swings of life. For me, both mentally and musically,” says JJ. “I don’t like to limit myself to a specific genre and enjoy the freedom to explore where to take my songs sonically. They are each different and require different treatments and approaches. I truly feel there is something for everyone on this album.”

Work on MIXED EMOTIONS began in March 2023 at Blackbird Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and was completed in between non-stop touring. It is a passionate, artistic statement from a band unafraid to take chances but comfortable with the unique sound they have refined over their many years on the road. "Finding time between two years of heavy touring, the band put all their energy into making this album,” producer Eddie Spear stated, adding, “JJ in particular dedicated and pushed himself to near destruction to get the vocal performances and arrangements to be as enjoyable as they are. There’s nothing better than making music with your friends and I am so proud to have helped facilitate the production of such a fantastic collection of songs.”  

Crunching guitars and pounding drums underscore the high-octane, adrenaline-fueled singles, “ Rock N Roller,” and “Back Door” - songs which show us how to let the good times roll even when the times are hard. Elsewhere, KALEO displays sonic restraint, drawing inspiration from folk and American roots. On single “Lonely Cowboy” they utilize subtle plucked acoustic guitars ringing over haunting pedal steels. Slow building anthem “USA Today,” unleashes a sound more impassioned, and thought-provoking than anything the band has released to date. Throughout JJ’s distinct and inimitable vocals shine, sharing potent stories of overcoming adversity and finding peace within.

The band have been celebrating the new music with numerous notable press moments including features with Spin Magazine, Forbes, American Songwriter, and an incredible Late Night TV performance of “Rock N Roller” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “Rock N Roller” was also chosen to appear in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game campaign and was the theme song for the entire season of SEC Football on ABC. In addition, “USA Today” was used in the first trailer for Season 5 (Pt. 2) of Yellowstone, and “Legacy” is currently featured as the theme song for the NHL on TNT Stanley Cup Playoffs campaign.   

Nashville-based singer/songwriter Stephen Day releases new single “Old News” from an upcoming companion EP to last year’s Gold Mine, which will come out on September 12 via Riser House Records. Co-written with the song’s producer Micah Tawlks (Hayley Williams, The Brook & The Bluff) along with Austin Goodloe (Tucker Wetmore, Ella Langley) and Josie Dunne (Corook, Zolita), “Old News” finds Day firmly stepping into the role of classic country crooner as he sings about lost love over gushing pedal steel and melancholy guitar. 

In September, Day will hit the road with Icelandic blues rock band KALEO for a series of dates on their Mixed Emotions tour including stops in Charleston, Cincinnati, Minneapolis and more. He will then embark on a fall continuation of his Gold Mine Tour, which will take him through Oklahoma City, Lexington, Columbus and more. 

“While writing my album Gold Mine, I was constantly listening to old soul and country records and wanted to blend the two worlds in my own way,” shares Day. “Not long after releasing the record, I was reflecting on it with some friends and realized the album felt like it was missing that one sad lonesome cowboy tune. We messed around on some guitars for a bit and out came ‘Old News.’ Maybe one of the quickest songs that’s ever come out of me. It was like we were just trying to play catch up!” 

Day first offered a preview of the companion EP with the previously-released “Sweet Iced Tea” featuring Allen Stone, which American Songwriter lauded as “a track perfect for summer” saying it “will quench your thirst for soul music.” Similar to the LP which owes as much to Frank Sinatra and Glen Campbell as it does to John Mayer and Stevie Wonder, these new songs are bold and lush, with warm arrangements, infectious hooks, impossibly smooth vocals and evocative guitar playing. The anything-goes production approach showcases the continued evolution of Day and Tawlks’ thrilling creative chemistry.

Day kicked off this year with an extensive headline tour with a number of sold-out shows in cities like Nashville, San Francisco, Boston and at LA’s Troubadour which Atwood Magazine called “a 24-karat masterclass in the enduring power of the live show.” Ahead of his sold-out show in his adopted hometown of Nashville, The Tennessean covered Day extensively in a front-page feature preceding a special-guest-filled night where Stephen Sanchez joined him to sing “It Was You.” Most recently, Day performed at the Recording Academy’s 24th Annual Nashville Chapter Block Party alongside Jon Pardi, 2’Live Bre and MŌRIAH. 

All of this follows a series of impressive support slots with Stephen Sanchez, Teddy Swims, Ben Rector and more, as well as appearances at Wanderland Festival in the Philippines and Jazz Around Festival in Poland. In addition to touring success, since debuting in 2016, the Georgia native has garnered 170M cumulative on demand streams across two EPs and three full length albums.