JOSE GONZALEZ v3.qxp_Layout 2 23/03/2022 15:25 Page 1
Timeless tunes Swedish singer-songwriter José González is back on tour with his fourth solo album, Local Valley. Ahead of his appearance at The Marble Factory on 26 April, we catch up with José and delve into the making of his soulful sounds...
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ince the release of his critically acclaimed debut single Crosses in 2003, and his subsequent cover of The Knife’s Heartbeats on the same album – a rendition that has earned more than 372 million listens on Spotify alone – José González’s signature glacial vocals and impressive Spanish-inflected fingerpicking have been a mainstay of the indie-folk scene for almost two decades. His long reign is very much a testament to the quality of his work, especially as his latest release, Local Valley, comes some six years after his last, and is only his fourth solo album to date. Nevertheless, few artists possess a body of work than can rival José’s catalogue. Over the years, he has received numerous platinum records. In 2018 – three whole years after he’d released a new song – he sold out London’s prestigious 4000+ seat Royal Albert Hall. Today, the Swedish singer-songwriter is back on the road, unsurprisingly packing out venues all over the world. As I speak to 26 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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APRIL 2022
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No 209
José ahead of his appearance at The Marble Factory on 26 April, he is mid-way through his tour in the States. When my call connects, he is walking along the serene streets of San Diego, where he is due to play that evening. It’s 7.30pm in the UK, the skies are grey. It’s 12.30pm on the west coast of America and the sun is apparently beaming down. I wish it was my shoes that I could hear brushing the pavement stones, but I digress… Local Valley sees the return of José’s stripped-back setup and gentle philosophical lyrics. In some ways, this album is a natural continuation of his previous work, but in many others, it marks a new chapter in José’s life. For starters, we hear the influence of his two children, both of whom were born during the making of this record. The eighth track on the album, Lilla G (short for lilla gumman, which means ‘sweet little girl’ in Swedish) came from a tune José first hummed to his baby daughter. “I was playing around, singing her
