Jose Gonzalez In Our Nature by: Tom Bradbury Mon:10-Sep-07 Label: Peacefrog Year: 2007 WB rating 78 out of 100

In Our Nature is another album of gentle, thoughtful music from Swedish classical guitarist Jose Gonzalez. Very little has changed since his debut album, Veneer, which after two years of solid success in Sweden finally broke though everywhere else in 2005. There is no doubt that Gonzalez’ songwriting has improved, but like that album it is still a cover that is the most remarkable song on In Our Nature.

Gonzalez has the very rare gift of being able to make somebody else’s song completely his own, the old sounding fresh. On In Our Nature this ability is applied to Massive Attacks’ ‘Teardrop’. It is amazing how he is able to make his version sound as full as the original, while only using his characteristic guitar playing – he truly is very skilled. Gonzalez manipulates dynamics in both obvious and subtle ways. He doesn’t just get louder as ‘Teardrop’ progresses; his fingerwork also becomes more intricate, with notes change accents. By the time the percussion enters the mix, it’s almost as if the song has taken on life of its own, feeding itself in circular momentum. There is something incredibly organic and human about Gonzalez’ music, and that is what makes his covers so striking. Anybody can cover a song, but only very special artists have the musical personality and charisma to make songs completely their own. In this sense, Gonzalez finds himself in the company of Jimi Hendrix (‘All Along the Watchtower) and Johnny Cash (‘Hurt’).

‘Teardrop’ does, however, serve to heighten the fact that, for the most part, Gonzalez’ material is not as strong as that of the artists he chooses to cover – while not filler, most tracks are not remarkable. ‘In Our Nature’ is thoughtful but not compelling, done a disservice by its position next to ‘Teardrop’ on the album. ‘Abram’ plays like a David Crosby B-side. There is no doubting the authenticity of its ethereal atmosphere, but it lacks a strong melody. Gonzalez is a talented enough guitar player to always make his music interesting, but not always a strong enough songwriter to really make a track standout.

Yet there are two songs of Gonzalez own composition that can stand beside ‘Teardrop’ on In Our Nature. The first being opening track ‘How Low’, which is a case study in Gonzalez’ formula of expansion and volume variance. Because Gonzalez is a solo artist he cannot rely on the full band technique to bolster a chorus, so he must instead find other ways to add weight to a song’s center. Gonzalez brings increased pressure to his strumming as he sings “Some day you’ll be up to your knees in the shit you see”. Bass strings snap like a hip hop beat while he decreases emphasis on finger picking to give expression to full chords. ‘How Low’ comes alive as if emerging from a deep slumber, such is the transforming effect of Gonzalez’ transition.

‘Cycling Trivialities’ is In Our Nature’s sister track to Veneer’s ‘Heartbeats’, an aptly cyclical guitar progression recalls the soft whirl of Gonzalez’ signature track, his guitar steady and soothing as the ticking of a grandfather clock. ‘Cycling Trivialities’ again subtly demonstrates the immediacy that is one of Gonzalez most potent gifts. He sounds like he is right there in the room with you, and at some points you can even hear him breathing. Gonzalez is able to relate to his audience in an extremely personal manner, his hypnotic guitar and fragile voice cutting through layers of plastic and psychological baggage to enter souls like a surgeon’s scalpel. 

Gonzalez’ gift for penetrating the hearts of his audience is enough to overcome his weaknesses and the slightly worrying fact that apart from an improved melodic sense, there isn’t much in the way of artistic growth on In Our Nature. Sometimes an artist can make up for, in sheer magnetism, what he may lack in songwriting ability.