José González - Vestiges & Claws (2015)

It's the quiet ones we should watch, they always say. Which is particularly astute advice right now, when load, constant self declaration and saturated "brand" visibility have become the norm. But above the babble and brightness, some voices will always speak quiet volumes - with calm eloquence and the kind of certitude that comes from valuing the playing out. not just the prize.

Sweden's José González is just such a voice. He first charmed his way into the UK's earshot via the murmurous and elegand, classically finger-picked folk pop of his 2005 album, Veneer, which has since sold over a staggering 430,000 copies in the UK alone. Two years later came in Our nature, a further exploration of José's influences (Argentinian Folklore, the 60's UK folk tradition and the British pastoral folk-pop style of the same era), on which he resisted the temptation to beef up his alluringly introvert aesthetic. The albums made the UK Top 10 and Top 20 respectively.

TRACKLIST
01 With the Ink of a Ghost
02 Let It Carry You
03 Stories We Build, Stories We Tell
04 The Forest
05 Leap Off / The Cave
06 Every Age
07 What Will
08 Vissel
09 Afterglow
10 Open Book