First off, I need to confess that I’m a bad José González fan, because I didn’t even know the guy was Swedish. I guess that’s my own prejudice at work, but he’s Argentinian-Swedish and was born in Gothenburg. Now, the folk-singing, songwriting Swede is back with his first album in seven years, Vestiges & Claws. González self-produced the record at home and in the Svenska Grammofonstudion nearby. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that grammafonstudion is Swedish for “recording studio.”
Describing his creative intentions for the new record, González says, “I didn’t want this to be too polished, or too ‘in your face.’ Most of all, it’s fun to be in complete control of the artistic aspect.” Even though a seven-year lull between solo albums might seem like a serious gap, he wasn’t pulling a Bon Iver in a snowy log cabin somewhere. Instead, he kept plenty busy with two Junip records, lots of touring, and a job helping Ben Stiller pick poignant music for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. That’s a good one for the resume. Vestiges & Claws, though, centers on “ideas of civilization, humanism, and solidarity,” and brings in more guitar layers, percussion, and vocal harmonies to fill in the González sound.
Until the album drops via Mute on February 17, enjoy the teaser trailer below and dream of gonzo in your future.
Vestiges & Claws tracklist:
01. With the Ink of a Ghost
02. Let it Carry You
03. Stories We Build, Stories We Tell
04. The Forest
05. Leaf Off / The Cave
06. Every Age
07. What Will
08. Vissel
09. Afterglow
10. Open Book
• José González: http://jose-gonzalez.com
• Mute: http://mute.com