Local Valley

Jos̩ Gonz��lez��never sounds like he�۪s in a hurry. He takes his sweet time both in song and in life: Yet the basic elements of Gonz��lez�۪s sound have been more or less preserved in amber since 2003�۪s Veneer:��sparse arrangements, intricate acoustic fingerpicking, gently philosophical lyrics, and a plaintive voice that�۪s halfway between a murmur and a croon. Never freaky enough for the freak-folk movement nor chronically chill enough for the��Jack Johnson��dudes, Gonz��lez carved out his own niche, imbuing his music with a sense of timelessness that�۪s impervious to trends but also susceptible to a sameness that can be stifling.

Recorded at Gonz��lez�۪s bucolic home studio near the Swedish coast,��Local Valley��brings no grand reinventions but does gently tweak the songwriter�۪s approach and inject a little rhythmic bounce into his songwriting, making for a livelier, more playful album than��Vestiges & Claws. The record opens on a sleepy note, with home-recorded birdsong ornamenting the new-age reveries of ���Visions�۝ and guitars rustling like a delicate forest in the hymn-like ���Horizons.�۝ None of the first four songs rise above a pleasant murmur. But somewhere around ���Head On�۝��ʉ��a standout track that�۪s as close as Gonz��lez gets to a protest song, with stomping handclaps egging on his jabs at ���corrupt oligarchs�۝ and ���power snatchers�۝���Local Valley��picks up the pace.

Credit: Ian Cohen at Pitchfork