José González is set to release his first solo album in seven years, Vestiges & Claws will be out on 16th Feb 2015 via Peacefrog Records.

Watch the new album trailer here...

“Every age has its turn / Every branch of the tree has to learn/ Learn to grow, find its way / Make the best of this short-lived stay” - José González

José González first charmed his way into the UK’s earshot via his 2005 album, Veneer, which has since sold over 430, 000 copies in UK alone. Two years later came In Our Nature, a further exploration of José’s influences (Argentinian Folklore, the ’60s US folk tradition and the British pastoral folk-pop style of the same era).

Since his last solo record José has delivered two albums with the band Junip, his more fulsome, electronic-edged, pop project and has toured with both the Berlin/Göteborg String Theory orchestra (in 2011), co-performing 11 reworking’s of his songs, Sidi Touré and played with Malian desert blues troupe Tinariwen (both in 2012). 

Conceived as the natural third part in an acoustic trilogy, Vestiges & Claws is a 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.

Vestiges & Claws was recorded almost entirely by José and self-produced, mostly in his Gothenburg home, using computer plug-ins to achieve a warm, analogue sound. He prefers working alone, mainly for artistic reasons. “There were a couple of things that enabled me to complete this record: one was curiosity, to be able to play percussion and do a lot of harmonies and also to produce and mix the album; the other was aesthetics. I love to listen to Arthur Russell and Shuggie Otis, to music that has been done mostly by one person in their solitary state.”

Vestiges & Claws Pre-order: