The three Finnish women of Kaiku all arrived in New York City independently, for different reasons – school, language, adventure, and marriage. They came together a year ago to make music. “We didn’t have any expectations, and suddenly, we started getting all this amazing feedback,” recalled Jaana Kantola, one of the band’s songstresses. “People would come up to us and say, ‘This sounds amazing, what is this?'”

At a recent gig on the Lower East Side, Kantola, Paula Jaakkola, and Erja Vettenranta sang hauntingly ethereal harmonies, accompanied by touches of accordion, percussion, and cello from their American band mates, Rob Curto, Scott Kettner, and Christopher Hoffman, respectively. Between songs, Jaakkola gleefully recounted a coincidence involving their next song, about a cockroach, and the real one that crawled across the cellist’s face during the sound check.

The rhythms of their music are an uncategorizable fusion of Finnish folk, tango, pop, waltz, and what sounds like a polka-esque marching song. Growing up in different parts of Finland – Lapland, Helsinki, and Jurva – they were exposed to Finnish folk and tango, classical music, as well as foreign pop, such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Duran Duran. But the constants in their music are minor-key harmonies, both gorgeous and melancholic.

These sublime harmonies glide, dip, soar, and seamlessly mix with the rhythms of the unlikely group ing of instruments. Although the Kaiku women are fluent in English, they sing in Finnish, with only sprinklings of English and one tango in Spanish. They write their own lyrics, or take them from “Kalevala,” which is the national Finnish epic, or “Kanteletar,” a 1840 collection of poems about topics such as leaving your homeland, nature, and endless freezing winters. The songs are set either to original music composed by the band or reworked folk classics.

In early 2005, they released their first, self-titled, six-track CD, put out by Headset Productions.

The CD spotlights 14 of the city’s best musicians and singers who perform in the subways, where Kaiku plays twice a month. There are songs by Manze Dayila, from Haiti; the soulful folkie Theo Eastwind, originally from Vienna; New York’s own Spokkin Movement, and the self-taught Alabamian Kathleen Mock. Kaiku’s track “Puhurin Poika” stands out as a beautifully eerie vocal harmony.

When they play in the subways, Kaiku’s choice spot is either Grand Central Station or Times Square, where they sometimes run into surprised Finnish tourists, usually given away by a breezy, “Oh, look at that,” and a quick point to the band, as Finns are not known for their effusiveness.

Kaiku will perform at Joe’s Pub tonight as part of the “Songs from the Underground: NYC Subway” CD release party (425 Lafayette Street, between E. 4th Street & Astor Place, 212-239-6200).