Vestiges & Claws (Pink Vinyl)

It’s the quiet ones we should watch, they always say. Which is particularly astute advice right now, when loud, 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 Jose Gonzalez is just such a voice. He first charmed his way into the UK’s earshot via the murmurous and elegant, classically finger-picked folk pop of his 2005 album, Veneer, which has since sold over a staggering 430, 000 copies in UK alone. Two years later came In Our Nature, a further exploration of Jose’s influences (Argentinian Folklore, the ’60s US 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.

Track List:

1. With The Ink Of A Ghost
2. Let It Carry You
3. Stories We Build. Stories We
4. Tell
5. The Forest
6. Leaf Off/The Cave
7. Every Age
8. What Will
9. Vissel
10. Afterglow
11. Open Book