José González (Stranger, 2006)

 
The last couple of years haven’t been so shabby for José González. A series of jaw-droppingly beautiful EPs (Crosses, Stay In The Shade, Remain); a haunting debut album (Veneer); a track  -‘Heartbeat’, a cover of The Knive’s record - signed to Sony’s high profile Bravia ad (the pretty one with the multi-coloured balls bouncing down a San Francisco hill); successful covers of everyone from Massive Attack (‘Teardrop’) to Kylie Minogue (‘Hand On Your Heart’); sold out tours across the Western hemisphere (including one for the Dalai Lama)…not bad for a budding biochemist who regarded music as a hobby until 2004.

Born in Gothenburg in 1978, González was raised by Argentine parents. His musical education began at the age of fifteen, when he learned classical Spanish guitar with a professor and played Beatles songs with his father. While still at school he played bass for a Black Flag-inspired rock combo and flirted with hardcore and indie rock, before eventually returning to his acoustic roots.

In 1998 he released a seven-inch on a small Swedish label that featured the tracks ‘Hints’ and ‘Deadweight On Velveteen’ – two repetitive, melancholic songs that changed his life. “It was that release that made me realise what I wanted to do,” says José, his voice slow, quiet - distinctly Scandinavian. “It was a defining moment because I had five songs I was happy with, but I picked only two. The ones I didn’t pick were more traditional and cheesy; the two I put out were the darkest. From that basis, over the next couple of years, I wrote more songs in that style, and in 2004 began working on Veneer.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Veneer  - a word whose synonyms include façade, disguise, semblance and appearance - is an odd title for an album that seems to wear its author’s heart on its sleeve. A series of unhurried, simple and reflective songs - hypnotically linear with hardly a traditional verse-refrain in sight - the album is a thirty minute trip into a hushed world of velvet darkness, streaked with exotic South American flourishes – finger-picked guitar, nods to bossa nova and flamenco - and elevated into the sublime by the folky romance of José’s voice.

“I definitely aimed to do something different,” he says of the project, which was released last year on UK label Peacefrog. “My best friend, Elias, who does my artwork, has always been the person I consult with. When I was making the record I played songs to him and he always turned down the cheesier moments, which is why it came out with the darker themes. At first I wasn’t sure about it, but now I’m happy we were so consistent with the songs and that we kept them to a minimum.”

Jose has, predictably enough, been lumped directly into the ever-swelling canon of so-called ‘neo-folk’ artists: Espers, Vashti Bunyan, Joanna Newsom, Adem and others. Ironically, he was utterly unaware of any kind of folk revival during the making of the album, though of course he is more than aware of it now.

“The first I heard was in one of the first interviews I did here in Sweden,” he laughs. “The interviewer kept talking about the Kings of Convenience and how ‘quiet is the new loud’. I was into bands like Low and Cat Power who’d been around a while, but my main influences were Latin American – tropicalia, Caetano Veloso, Spanish classical guitar music, and bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor, Domakesaythink, Tortoise, DJ Shadow…instrumental, repetitive stuff for sure, but nothing really folky.”
 
González admits the Sony Bravia advert catapulted him much more firmly into the limelight. “The record was doing well anyway but after the advert I started to get recognised on the tube!” he laughs. Is he pleased with the ad? “If you look at all the ads out there,” he says, “it’s one of the more tasteful ones. The product isn’t controversial or anything. But I don’t think I would do any more, not initially. I can make good money from touring, but adverts can be handy as it means you can stay at home and work on new music instead of being on the road all the time.”

Not that he has been sitting at home writing new music however. He has, in fact been touring like a madman, committing to an almost constant string of dates between April and October this year. On top of his own shows he is also set to appear with chill-out champions Zero 7, whose new album (The Garden) features González on no less than three songs, including a new version of ‘Crosses’.

Though he has no time for writing new material, he’s been having plenty of ideas for a second album. “I think it will be really similar to Veneer, but without so many constraints. It won’t be so dark and it won’t follow strict rules about structure like Veneer did. If it’s a good song I’m going to put it on there.”