José González

I have to admit that it has taken a few years for me to turn around on José González. At first, all I could think was, 'Great. Another guy with an acoustic guitar and feelings. I wonder what college quad they scraped this asshole off of.' Fortunately, I was wrong and I probably wouldn't have ever figured it out if they guy hadn't just kept making album after album for the last ten years.

Although his parents are Argentines, singer/songwriter José González was born in Sweden, where he became nationally renowned for his mix of autumnal indie pop and intimate acoustics. Following stints with hardcore bands during the 1990s, González formed the indie rock outfit Junip alongside organist Elias Araya and drummer Tobias Winterkorn; they released their first EP, Straight Lines, in 2000.

González officially launched his solo career with the release of 2003's Veneer, an entirely acoustic affair that reflected a childhood spent listening to equal parts bossa nova, classical, and post-punk by the likes of Joy Division. Touchstones for José's sound included Nick Drake, Paul Simon, Red House Painters, and Elliott Smith, and the album featured a popular cover of the Knife's Heartbeats. A theme from Heartbeats was revealed in his work, and González recorded covers of Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division, Hand on Your Heart by Kylie Minogue, The Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen, and Teardrop by Massive Attack. As his popularity spread overseas, Veneer finally received an American release in 2005. González's stateside prospects were aided by the appearance of his song Crosses in the season-ending episode of The O.C. The title track from his 2006 EP, Stay in the Shade, was also featured in the show.

Stay in the Shade displayed a move away from the bedroom sound of González's first album, yet it maintained the same caliber of songcraft and performance. Additionally in 2006, Gonzales teamed up with British electronic band Zero 7 on their album The Garden, providing vocals on four tracks Futures, Left Behind, Today, and a version of his own track, Crosses. In 2005, he returned to work with Junip, and the group released an EP at the end of the year and a full-length album in 2006. He returned to his solo career the following year, however, with the release of In Our Nature. Then, he hopped back to Junip for their self-titled LP released in 2013.

José is a busy boy, but this is all build up to his release this week of a new solo effort, Vestiges & Claws, on Mute Records. I'm happy to say that from his first album to this one, my own view of González has gone from just another bearded James Taylor to one of my absolute favorite musicians in the world and this new album is perfect proof as to why.

Vestiges & Claws finds González expanding his sound (surprise, surprise) as the dividing lines between his solo work and Junip have begun to blur. Junip fans will immediately recognize the red-level recording and fuzzed out effects present on most of the recording. Even the groove from the album's third track Stories We Build, Stories We Tell sounds like it might have originally germinated from the last Junip recording sessions. These certainly aren't complaints. These new (or rather borrowed) weapons make Vestiges Jose's best solo album yet. The songs seem more directed and don't stray off into sounding 'samey'.

Of course, José also still have that voice of his. Very similar to fellow Euro-folkie The Tallest Man on Earth, González has a killer voice that makes it easy to forget his lyrics are basically complete nonsense. Altogether, we're now at a point where everyone gets to enjoy this artist at the very top of his capabilities so far. Vestiges & Claws might not be just the best album of José González's career, it might also be the best album of 2015.