Staff Reviews

José González - Vestiges & Claws

Review by Anna Byrne

He is embracing his own style, his musical expertise, his lyrical prowess.»

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It may be seven years since he released a solo record, but Jose has been anything but idle in that time. He's delivered two albums with the band Junip, his more fulsome, electronic-edged, pop project and has toured with both the Berlin / Goteborg String Theory orchestra (in 2011), co-performing 11 reworking's of his songs, Sidi Toure and played with Malian desert blues troupe Tinariwen (both in 2012). In 2013, Hollywood came calling when Ben Stiller commissioned Jose to work with Theodore Shapiro on the soundtrack to his remake of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' and most recently, he's contributed his version of 'This is How We Walk On the Moon' to the Red Hot charity compilation honouring Arthur Russell. Community and collaboration are obviously satisfying in their own ways, but now Jose is again stepping centre stage solo, with 'Vestiges and Claws'. Conceived as the natural third part in an acoustic trilogy, 'Vestiges and Claws' is a(nother) hushed and delicate solo set that forefronts the artist and guitarist's compellingly intimate vocal style and intricate playing technique, but it's often strikingly rhythmic in nature and cohere's perfectly, with hand claps and taps on the body of his instrument underlining the songs' mantric rise-and-fall pattern, while elsewhere, over-dubbed guitar parts and multi-tracked vocal harmonies entwine to sweetly immersive effect.
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