Jose Gonzalez Returns With Fan Pleaser

Vestiges & Claws is the highly anticipated third full length album from soft spoken singer songwriter 'Jose Gonzalez' and as a big fan of his older material I was curious to see how Jose had developed since the release of 2007's In Our Nature.

From the first track 'With The Ink Of A Ghost' you are instantly transported into a world of huge sing alongs, homely guitar licks and reverb smothered vocals that will seem instantly comfortable to anyone who's listen to Jose Gonzalez before.

There's defiantly a sense that Jose's other project 'Junip' has also had some influence here bringing uplifting choruses with a splash of melody to the plate as reflected in 'Leaf Off/The Cave' it's hard to remember that Jose is the only one singing along with you and that crowd of people chanting along isn't really there.

It's great to see an artist head back to their roots and after seven years the mounting pressure to release something new and unique seems to have only driven Jose to produce something almost the exact opposite of that, tracks like 'Afterglow' and 'Open Book' would sit comfortably  amongst any past 'Jose Gonzalez' release without anyone taking a double take.

The album seems to keep the same pace throughout, steadily bobbing along from track to track whilst touching on sensitive themes of uncertainty, hope and death yet never truly showing its somewhat negative undertones.

Vestiges & Claws will take you to a place where you feel uncertain but reassured and in Folk music this is something that is hard to achieve with just a guitar and your voice. Jose has a real raw uniqueness to his voice that projects a perfect representation of his emotion on to all of his work, it is so timid yet so undeniably effective at bringing you into the picture that without Jose's vocals Vestiges & Claws would lack any true compassion or feeling.

There's nothing here that's going to break boundaries but from someone who has accomplished so much within his career is there any need? Jose has found the perfect formula of guitar and vocals that can paint a thousands words on what other songwriters see as a blank canvas.

Vestiges & Claws is an all round solid release stamped with that unique signature Jose Gonzalez sound that will defiantly satisfy older fans and newcomers alike.

To find out more about Jose Gonzalez click here.

To visit Jose Gonzalez's Facebook page click here.

Words by Elliot Dixon

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