Aural Fixations

JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ
Veneer
(Imperial)
Born and raised in Sweden to an Argentinean family, José González sits quietly in a chair with a beat-up nylon stringed guitar and sings for only the lonely on his debut full-length Veneer. There's no escaping the influence of Nick Drake on González's sad-eyed melodies, poetic lyrics and painfully shared intimacies, but let's face it: at this point citing Drake as an artistic guidepost to an underground singer/songwriter is kind of pointing out the Beatles cops in a power pop band. As with fellow travelers like John Cunningham and Elliott Smith, the influence is less important than the execution. Accompanied by only his confidently plucked and strummed six-string and the occasional dab of percussion or trumpet, the young troubadour does little that hasn't been done on countless records, but he does it extremely well. For music this unadorned, it's all about the songs, and González has a pile of great ones. "By the time you reach your goal/Your tongue will be twisted/To the point where you'll lose your soul," he croons darkly over delicate chords in "All You Deliver." "Stay in the Shade" gives the puzzling advice (to himself?) to "Stay in the shade/You'll see how you fade," concluding that "Love moves on/Life goes on." Somehow the driving acoustic guitar figure makes the pill go down easier. It's unclear what he's softly moaning about on "Deadweight on Velveteen"—other than it's "Vulgar when brought to light"—but the repetitive guitar riff underneath the mysterious verbiage gives the track a haunted atmosphere. "Hints" find González and his love searching for answers and not at all sure he'll find them. All is not lost, however. "Be brave and save your day," he asserts in "Save Your Day," a song that would be anthemic if not performed so nakedly, "The grave looks cold but we're still young." The poppy "Crosses" matter-of-factly banishes the darkness, noting "Disturbing silence darkens your sight/We'll cast some light and you'll be alright." The album is almost a song cycle about faith (In what—love? God? Onself?) lost and found, where no matter how big the universe seems, even the tiniest grain of sand has meaning. The title Veneer may be a reference to superficiality, but there's substance aplenty under the surface of José González. Michael Toland