José González, the Swedish-Argentinian indie folk singer-songwriter, has come a long way ever since his cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats” back in 2003. Announcing the release of his new EP José González & The Brite Lites At Svenska Grammofonstudion out right now via Mute, González keeps the ball rolling following his tour from the last record Vestiges & Claws. 

Putting together a new live band in order to “expand the harmonies of previously recorded songs with additional guitar and rhythmic elements,” as stated in a press release, The Brite Lites came to form, and recorded this new EP at Svenska Grammofonstudion, González’ favorite studio in Gothenburg, Sweden (the same studio in which is record sophomore record In Our Nature was recorded).

The artwork, drawn by artist Hannele Fernström, depicts José and others crowded in heaven with saint-like vestiges, as González remarked that he enjoyed a tweet about the idea of heaven that featured “a medieval painting by Louis de Laval showing a number of saints crammed together in a crowd.”

González’ North American tour kicks off Monday, 1/28 in Phoenix, with many dates close to selling out, so check out the tour schedule below, as well as González’ track-by-track information for the new EP José González & The Brite Lites At Svenska Grammofonstudion out right now below.

José González & The Brite Lites At Svenska Grammofonstudion – EP Album Artwork:

Tracklist:

1. Killing for Love

“What’s the point if you hate, die and kill for love?” I wrote this song back in 2007. It was a reaction to the weirdness of some people falling in love with a particular idea or a historical character. Love is powerful. So powerful that it can make bring out the worst in us. We should choose our loves wisely.

2. What Will

What will our legacy be? Humanity is at a special moment in time when most of us are living with amazing prosperity, and with increasingly powerful tools compared to other times. Still we’re sort of stuck with our tribal psychology, which makes us experts in making a difference between us and them.

3. Stories We Build, Stories We Tell

Stories and myths help us make sense of our surroundings and happenings. Collective
beliefs that work as tools to push us in certain directions, sometimes for good but sometimes for bad. “Don’t believe in karma or hell, but in the memories and stories we tell.”

4. Afterglow

On the cosmic timescale we will be gone, leaving only memories and traces for the
afterglow. I was toying with the idea of cults and how many of them have a doomsday
narrative to scare but offer some sort of comfort if you follow them. In this song we go from minor to major with the same lyrics. First acknowledging, then accepting and almost rejoicing.

José González 2018 Tour:

1/29 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
1/30 – Sacramento, CA – Crest Theatre
1/31 – Santa Barbara, CA – UC Santa Barbara
2/1 – Orange, CA – Chapman University
2/2 – Dallas, TX – Majestic Theatre
2/3 – Austin, TX – Long Centre for the Performing Arts
2/6 – Hanover, NH – Dartmouth College
2/7 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre (SOLD OUT)
2/8 – Portsmouth, NH – Music Hall
2/9 – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall
2/10 – Montreal, QC – Monument-National (SOLD OUT)
2/11 – Québec, QC – Grand Théâtre de Québec (SOLD OUT)
2/12 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall (SOLD OUT)
3/29 – Canberra, Australia – Canberra Theatre Centre
3/31 – Sydney, Australia – Sydney Opera House
4/1 – Byron Bay, Australia – Blues Fest
4/2 – Melbourne, Australia – Melbourne Recital Centre
4/3 – Melbourne, Australia – Melbourne Recital Centre
8/25 – Missoula, MT – Big Sky Amphitheatre ^ *
8/26 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory ^ *
8/28 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory ^ *
8/30 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre ^ *
9/17 – Aarhus, Denmark – Musikhuset Aarhus #
9/18 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Copenhagen Opera House #
9/19 – Cologne, Germany – Live Music Hall #
9/20 – London, England – Royal Albert Hall #
9/21 – Brighton, England – Brighton Dome #
9/22 – Manchester, England – Albert Hall #
9/23 – Bristol, England – O2 Academy Bristol #
9/24 – Bruges, Belgium – Concertgebouw Brugge #
9/25 – Zürich, Switzerland – Volkshaus #
9/26 – Lausanne, Switzerland – Les Docks #
9/27 – Hasselt, Belgium – Cultuurcentrum Hasselt #
9/28 – Ludwigshafen, Germany – BASF – Feierabendhaus #
10/2 – Lisbon, Portugal – Coliseu dos Recreios #
10/7 – Utrecht, Netherlands – TivoliVrendenburg #
10/8 – Hamburg, Germany – Laeiszhalle Hamburg #

^ – w/ The Brite Lites
* – w/ Shakey Graves
# – w/ The Gothenberg String Theory