I used to be in a band. We never really got very far, but that's not the point of this anecdote. One afternoon, having set up my drum kit in the living room, I was waiting for bandmates to turn up - they were usually late by the way. To pass the time I was watching TV while my younger brother, about 8 at the time, mindlessly played on the drums. Suddenly, an exceptionally lengthy advert came on that caught our attention. There was an empty street with millions and millions of brightly coloured super-balls bouncing down it. It was a surreal visual to say the least, but it was nowhere near as mesmerising as the musical accompaniment. An acoustic guitar played gradually blossoming arpeggios in a Spanish style, while the vocalist sang over the top in a low, melancholic almost-mumble. It was beautiful. I later found out that the track was Jose Gonzalez's cover of The Knife's 'Heartbeats'.
It is safe to say that
'Heartbeats' is the highlight of Jose Gonzalez's debut album 'Veneer'. It is simple in it's composition, gracefully making minimal alterations to the track's melody, but each small change gradually reels you further in. It's beauty is breathtaking, and that is what makes it such a strong track. Unfortunately, while the rest of the album is still of a rather high quality, it just does not compare to 'Heartbeats'. The albumstarts off strongly,
'Slow Moves' and
'Remain' have much in common with Gonzalez's The Knife cover with their gentle, arpeggiated guitar melodies changing very little but all the while being utterly mesmerising. The latter is slightly more upbeat, faster and accessible, with a simplistic lyrical structure - "we remain, we will stand upright as we stand today" being a memorable refrain.
'Crosses' has a stronger pulse than most on the album, Gonzalez's guitar playing is incredibly precise and impressive while his vocals rarely exceed what could almost be described as a whisper. The only time that this changes is in the most dynamic track on the album -
'Hints'. The lyrics are more enunciated, the vocals more urgent and the guitar more dramatic. All in all, it is one of the better tracks on the album, and in particular, one of the better tracks in the second half of 'Veneer'.
With 'Heartbeats', a song not written by Jose Gonzalez, being the strongest track onthe album by a Swedih mile, a cynic might say that his songwriting abilities are poor. That is not true by any means, but they pale in comparison to his guitar-playing abilities. For example, the cyclic melodies comprimising a track such as
'Lovestain' are far more interesting and effective than the track's structural composition. Nevertheless, it is a very beautiful, very strong track. The second half of the album, however, is less so. Tracks such as
'Stay In The Shade' and
'All You Deliver' come and go without leaving much impression. Also, by the end of the albumthe arpeggiated melodies that are the main focus of every single song here are not so novel and exciting anymore and are not so effective. Towards the end of the album, the tracks become shorter and shorter, so much that the very last track on the album,
'Broken Arrows', is a mere 1:58. With such a short time span, the track simply does not have enough time to leave an impression or develop satisfactorily. For example, the trumpet that enters towards the end is a genius idea, but it does not last anywhere near long enough to be fully effective.
However, on the whole 'Veneer' is a very good debut album from Jose Gonzalez. He has a unique and, hypnotic playing style that is at times incredibly beautiful, but in some tracks, meanders along aimlessly. Throughout the album there is a very thin texture of just Gonzalez and his guitar - this as well as the minimal dynamic range on display, could be expanded on, as 'Veneer' is an album in need of a little bit of variation. Nevertheless, Jose Gonzalez is very good at what he does, and so, while 'Veneer' may be a little tedious and repetitive at times (mainly towards the end) it is still a very accomplished debut.
