In March 1976, two university students from Argentina fled a politically turbulent country to Brazil, taking their infant daughter, and were granted political asylum in Sweden. The González family settled in Gothenburg, where their son José González was born in 1978. Influenced by his family of academics, José entered a Ph.D. program in biochemistry but ultimately followed his heart for music. Raised on Latin folk and pop music to Bob Marley and Michael Jackson, José incorporates folk sounds in his classical guitar-picking indie folk sound. However, folk music wasn’t where González started his musical career. In the early ‘90s, he played in a hardcore punk band in his hometown of Gothenburg called Back Against the Wall. He continued to play with rock bands–bass and guitar–throughout the ‘90s.
WHILE THE CROWD IS WAITING FOR THE FINAL KISS. In 2003, José González released his debut solo album Veneer after signing to the Swedish label Imperial Records. The album was an eventual success, being released in the rest of Europe and the United States in 2005. The biggest song González has released was a cover of a song by fellow Swedish band The Knife, “Heartbeats.” The song reached number 6 on the UK singles charts in 2006 and featured in many US television shows, particularly in key emotional scenes. In 2006, the song appeared in the teen drama One Tree Hill. It was used in a season 7 episode of Scrubs. It was also used to express a key plot point in season 2 of This Is Us. This moment came after the episodes preceding Episode 10 teased the guitar motif in the series’ soundtrack. Many other shows featured the song. González and his band Junip were also featured on the soundtrack to the 2013 Ben Stiller film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
BEFORE WE GET TIRED. “Hints” is a simple song from José González’s debut album Veneer. Not as smooth as “Heartbeats,” the song adds dynamics to González’s sometimes lullaby-like songbook. The brash plucking of nylon strings is softer than steel but in the context of a calm album, the indie folk singer calls for the listener’s attention. The lyrics are simple, as are many of José’s songs, but as with yesterday’s song, a song doesn’t need long verses or verbose choruses to be profound. González talked about his writing process with Paste in 2021. While he considers Spanish and Swedish his “mother tongues,” José prefers to write in English, a language that he experimented with writing in as a teenager. Besides music, González is interested in philosophy and science, which often inform his lyrics. A staunch atheist, the singer-songwriter incorporates themes from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and ethicist Peter Singer into his songs. From 2009 to 2011, José participated in the Gothenburg String Theory, an artistic project that linked artists in Gothenburg with classical composers in Berlin, Germany. While José González may not be an artist that many know by name, his music has soundtracked some important moments in film and television. José González blends elements of folk, classical, and rock to create a unique and captivating sound. His thought-provoking lyrics, influenced by his background in philosophy and science, explore themes of human existence, love, and loss.
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