José González of the band Junip will be releasing his latest solo album, Vestiges & Claws, on February 17, 2015.
Photo Credit: Owen Ela
The album is González’s first solo record in seven years, and was produced by him in his home and Svenska Grammofonstudion in Gothenburg, Sweden. Vestiges & Claws is a collection of musical sketches that have been amassed over several years. González has explained that he doesn’t want his music to have a too modern, crisp sound, instead aiming for a sound between Shuggie Otis and Simon & Garfunkel. In that spirit, many of the tracks on this album sound like a different take on folk rock, with some inspiration from protest songs of the Civil Rights era.
“It was no doubt a conscious decision to work without a producer,” said González. “I didn’t want this to be too polished, or too ‘in your face.’ Most of all, it’s fun to be in complete control of the artistic aspect. Also, I was inspired by and picked up a lot of tricks from the producers I have worked with in the past.”
When not working on putting together his solo album, González has been busy with Junip. In the past year alone, the group played at Austin City Limits Festival 2013 and also had an official late-night show during the festival. Junip’s self-titled album ended up on mxdwn’s top 40 albums of the year for 2013 as well. Last year they also released video for “Walking Lightly,” a track from their EP of the same name. In May 2014, they played at Sasquatch! Music Festival in Seattle, so González has surely been busy up until this announcement, and will more than likely continue to stay that way.
Vestiges & Claws
01. With the Ink of a Ghost
02. Let It Carry You
03. Stories We Build, Stories We Tell
04. The Forest
05. Leaf Off / The Cave
06. Every Age
07. What Will
08. Vissel
09. Afterglow
10. Open Book
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