Jose Gonzalez

Veneer

(Hidden Agenda)

Record Review by Daniel Brody

Jose Gonzalez is a Swede of Argentinean descent who sings in English in the folk mope style of Nick Drake and Mark Kozelek.  Veneer consists mostly of just Gonzalez’s voice and guitar; if other instruments appear, they do so only briefly, like the gentle one-hand clapping decibel handclaps of “Lovestain,” or the mournful trumpet solo that closes “Broken Arrows” and, with it, the album as a whole.  Gonzalez distinguishes himself from similar sad bastard musicians by spicing up his acoustic arrangements with elements of bossa nova and samba.  “Remain” and “Stay in the Shade” have a sinister Latin edge, giving Gonzalez’s melancholia a pervasive sense of dread and unease.  Clocking in at half an hour, Veneer’s concise songs prettily and pithily create an ambiance of resignation.  Gonzalez’s fingerpicking throbs with the twang of plucking as hard as possible, creating a great tension between the urgent strumming and Gonzalez’s passive and sweet voice.  

It’s a shame though, that Gonzalez’s lyrics don't really make the songs any more meaningful.  There is some haunting imagery about crosses, distorted pictures, and the rain washing it all away, but most of these songs are as vague and inscrutable as any song on Pink Moon.  The drama comes entirely out of the music, which is so seductively moody that the songs hold up anyway.  Then again, if you have that hard-to-place teen and twenty-something sense of despair, too much description by the singer could disturb the comforting effect of this album as a sort of existential Zen therapist. 

For all its nicked Drake guitar and vocal moves, this is a promising and pleasing album from a young artist who is still finding his voice.