José González

Songwriter Jose Gonzalez' parents were Argentinian students and political activists who fled their country in March 1976 when a far-right military junta took power. They relocated to Gothenburg, Sweden, when Gonzalez was born two years later. He grew up studying science and absorbing music. His first musical experience was singing and playing bass in a couple of hardcore bands, Back Against the Wall and Renascence, neither of which made much of an impression; he also absorbed Latin and Argentinian pop music while continuing to live in Gothenburg. Picking up a classical guitar and doing away with the backup band, Gonzalez found his musical voice. Recorded before he gave up on a Ph.D. program in biochemistry, his 2005 debut Veneer introduced a delicate, emotive sound that drew instant comparisons to Mark Kozelek, Bon Iver, and other alternative-folk touchstones. Though an immediate hit in the UK, it didn't receive an American release for another six months. His US breakthrough came via TV soundtracks, with the track "Crosses" appearing in the following year's season finale of The O.C.. His eclectic taste in cover tunes also became a trademark, though he usually put those on singles: In 2007 he put a version of Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy" on the back of two different singles (both from his second album, In Our Nature, it became a college-radio hit. As his acoustic sound was catching on Gonzalez formed a two-man rock band, Junip, with keyboardist Tobias Winterkorn. Once again the sound was largely gentle and sensitive, and again Gonzalez found himself on a host of TV soundtracks including NBC's The Blacklist, USA Network's Suits and most famously, AMC's Breaking Bad. After two EP's Junip released its debut album Fields in 2010. Gonzalez also collaborated with New York alt-folk duo the Books on an AIDS benefit track for the Red Hot organization. Gonzalez returned to solo work for 2015's Vestiges & Claws whose lyrics were more overtly philosophical, pondering doubt and mortality to deceptively tranquil music. In early 2018 Gionzalez dropped a surprise four-track EP, reworking previous solo songs with the Swedish band the Brite Lites. The addition of horns and congas made it the most outgoing music in Gonzalez' catalogue, he explained on Facebook that he'd been looking for an "awesome rhythm section and followed the EP with his first full-band US tour set for summer 2018.