José González at Rialto Theatre on Friday, March 18th
KXCI Presents! José González is a critically acclaimed solo artist with his trademark classical guitar picking and soothing vocals. He is known for his pastoral blend of introspective folk and autumnal indie pop.
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*CLICK FOR CONTEST RULES* The deadline to enter is through 5pm Thursday, March 18th. The winners of (1) pair of tickets will be selected at random (one entry per person). Ticket winners will be put on the guest list and must present ID at the venue box office on the night of the show to gain entry. Winners will be notified to the email address entered in the contest.
Jose Gonzalez with Jess Williamson
Price: $30-$52 + Taxes and Fees
Doors 7:00pm | Show 8:00pm | All Ages
It’s easy to overlook the fact that, despite only three solo albums in 18 years, José González has packed out distinguished venues from Sydney to Tallinn – via Berlin, Barcelona and Rio De Janeiro – and even sold out London’s prestigious, 4000+ capacity Royal Albert Hall a full three years after his last acclaimed collection, 2015’s Vestiges & Claws. He’s earned platinum records in the UK and his Swedish homeland as well gold in Australia and New Zealand. He’s also got some billion streams under his belt, and recent bewildering events have only endeared him further to the public, with his songs providing a consistent source of comfort over the last 18 months, something reflected by a significant rise in those streaming figures. Of course, such matters aren’t things of which José himself will remind you: since he first arrived with debut single ‘Crosses’ back in 2003, both he and his music have remained dependably quiet and unassuming. To underestimate him on account of his modest nature, however, would certainly be regrettable.
José’s long-awaited fourth album, Local Valley, provides a welcome reminder of his understated appeal and his singular ability to communicate discreetly, a quality illustrated by the uncommonly effective use of his music during The Last Dance, Netflix’s recent documentary about Michael Jordan. Local Valley also for the first time utilises all three languages José speaks, allowing for greater depth and connection to his lineage. Beginning with the sun-dappled ‘El Invento’, the first song he’s recorded in Spanish (the native tongue of his Argentinian heritage), and ending with the intimate yet rhapsodic ‘Honey Honey’, it engages in his signature melodic and metrical hypnotism on ‘Head On’ and ‘Tjomme’ and showcases his impressive fingerpicking skills on ‘Valle Local’, while there’s evidence of his love for music from around the world in ‘Swing’, among other tracks.
It’s also full of his trademark, bittersweet pastoralism, including ‘Visions’ and ‘Horizons – which, alongside ‘El Invento’, José considers “my most accomplished songs to date” – not to mention ‘The Void’, ‘Lasso In’, and of course ‘Line Of Fire’, which continues his tradition of reinterpreting songs, though on this occasion he picks one written for Junip, the band he formed with friends in 1998, which, after two albums, he continues to maintain with co-founder Tobias Winterkorn. That the original version has now been streamed some 60 million times suggests it, like other songs he’s covered, is now part of the songwriting canon.