By Brian Baker
Singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez is like a one-man United Nations. He was born to and raised by Argentinean parents in Sweden, where he resides, and he sings his British folk-inflected songs in English.
"And I play a Spanish guitar," says Gonzalez via phone from a Paris venue, eagerly fueling the metaphor. ³And there¹s German microphones."
And let's throw in worldwide success while we¹re at it. Since the 2003 release of his debut album, Veneer (re-released in the US in 2005 on indie Hidden Agenda and again in 2006 by larger indie Mute), Gonzalez has won the Swedish Grammy for Best Newcomer in 2004, the European Border Breaker Award last year and Sweden¹s Music Export Award this year. Veneer went gold, platinum and double platinum in countries around the globe, and he was the toast of the 2006 South by Southwest festival, playing to seven different audiences during the week and captivating every one of them.
If any further proof of Gonzalez's cross-cultural appeal is required, consider the fact that his latest album, In Our Nature, was released in September in 35 countries simultaneously. In an era when staggered releases are routinely implemented to maximize sales potential, the widespread release of Gonzalez's sophomore album is astonishing evidence of his across-the-board popularity.
It may also have something to do with the universally seductive power of In Our Nature. Like a mutant gene splice of Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto and Nick Drake, Gonzalez uses his acoustic guitar and a spartan amount of percussion and synthesizer to propel his soothingly dark, cautionary folk tales. Although there isn¹t a huge stylistic gap between Gonzalez's first two albums, he admits to at least a little artistic evolution from Veneer to In Our Nature.
³The way that I did the second one was more conscious and mostly about the lyrics and the sound,² says Gonzalez. "I focused on trying to get more power in the guitar, a bit more intensive sound and percussion. And I¹ve taken the whole thing of being conscious of what my lyrics are about and working on it more methodically."
Nick Drake is a particularly potent touchstone for Gonzalez, as he listened to Pink Moon, the late folk singer¹s third, last and perhaps best album, repeatedly during the making of Veneer. Gonzalez took sonic as well as stylistic cues from the melancholy troubadour.
"That was a good reference; a short album with only guitar and vocals and some piano. I felt like if he could do it, I can do it too. A song like ŒStay in the Shade,¹ I could not have written that without listening to Nick Drake. But in general, I think I¹m cooler," says Gonzalez with a laugh. ³I always try to get a tone of positive struggle in my music, not too slow and not too melancholic."
It's impossible for any artist to work in a vacuum, but the process can be dizzyingly complicated by the kind of success that Gonzalez experienced with Veneer, which has now sold nearly three-quarters of a million copies worldwide. He is quick to note that it was certainly on his mind as work on In Our Nature progressed.
"The first time I didn't really think that much about what I was writing about, and the second time, when I knew there was going to be a lot of people that were going to hear it, I was initially uncomfortable in that position,² says Gonzalez. ³I knew that a lot of people were going to listen to this album independently, if it was good or bad, and that felt a bit weird. But I¹ve felt like I had more success than I asked for with Veneer, and so during the time I was writing, I felt more and more that I wanted to please my own tastes so I wouldn¹t be bothered if the album wouldn¹t be as successful as Veneer. At this point, I feel really comfortable. With Veneer, I couldn¹t listen to it for a very long time, and with In Our Nature, I feel really comfortable with the sound and how the lyrics came out."
The idea of bringing more power into his guitar playing was a natural byproduct of the enormous amount of touring that Gonzalez has done in the past four years. The adrenaline of the live setting and the artist¹s need to reach every member of an audience combined to alter Gonzalez¹s studio approach.
³On tour, I¹ve tended to play louder and more intense,² says Gonzalez. ³And so I just continued with that in my songwriting."
Gonzalez was also eager to transcend the sensitive singer-songwriter tradition and use the genre to express some different thoughts and emotions. To that end, Gonzalez began expressing himself lyrically more along the lines of when he was playing bass and writing songs with hardcore bands during his teen years in Gothenburg.
³I was trying to avoid being the young guy writing about his feelings and break-ups and love stories,² says Gonzalez. "I ended up writing in a similar way like I used to in the hardcore bands. It¹s been fun to write in this accusing tone about humanity and different groups and also maybe myself. I know that the stuff I was reading and listening to during the time I was writing ended up in the lyrics. Stuff by Steven Pinker and Peter Singer and Richard Dawkins all inspired me, and topics like human nature and religion."
With powerful guitar tones and lofty cultural and behavioral themes in mind, Gonzalez began working on the songs for In Our Nature. He had attempted to write on tour but it proved unwieldy so he put it off until the end of his grueling road trip last fall.
"It took awhile before I started writing but when I spent like two months going to the studio and hanging out, it was pretty easy," says Gonzalez. "I guess that¹s the way I work. I need to start with crappy stuff and make it better. I¹m envious of my girlfriend [Yukimi Nagano]; she¹s really quick at writing. They actually write a new song each day with her band [Little Dragon]."
Clearly, a lot of cross references are made in Gonzalez¹s work, from his literary influences to his musical inspirations (including Drake, Baker, Gilberto, Fela Kuti, Cat Power and Songs: Ohia) to his hardcore youth to the astonishing intellectual filter that processes it all (he was working on his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Gothenburg in the late ¹90s when he opted to pursue music instead). It comes as no surprise then that his sense of humor is colored with that same brush, which comes to light as Gonzalez explains the ³joke² he inserted at the end of the song ³Abram.²
³I haven¹t heard anyone notice this yet, so I¹m giving it up for the first time,² he says with a laugh. "I misspelled the word Œbias¹ [as Œbais¹]; in Swedish it means Œcrap,¹ so it¹s a comical way of saying religion has put crap in our minds, but I haven¹t heard any Swedish people recognize it yet."
Jose Gonzalez,
Cass McCombs, Brian Straw
9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4
Grog Shop
2785 Euclid Heights Blvd.
216.321.5588
Tickets: $16 adv, $18 dos
