Jose Gonzalez

What with 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' not being released until Boxing Day and knowing little about what the film actually entails - Ben Stiller goes on some grand adventure to save his job and Sean Penn makes an appearance at some point - rather than approach this review by discussing how well the songs work as a soundtrack, it seemed best to approach it as a compilation with no hitherto connections. 

The suspected whimsical air about the film suggests that the gentle soundtrack would accompany the various reveries Mitty travels through well and as a collection of songs there is a likeness throughout the album as one track drifts to the next. The quieted tone lasts throughout the album, diverting only briefly and only slightly when the pace quickens. These diversions come along frequently enough to prevent the temperance of the album from becoming tiresome and, as a stand-alone album, the quality of songs hold relatively strong for the full fifty minutes.

José Gonzalez has a handful of original songs on the album, also featuring with his side project Junip for a pair of back-to-back tracks. His third solo contribution '#9 Dream' is easily his best, his hazy vocals carried along by a round, guitar-led beat and subtle yet sweetly used orchestration overlaid on to the track as it progresses. The Junip track 'Far Away' is another standout; the steady build of the humming bass injecting a sense of urgency into the mostly gentle soundtrack. Of Monsters and Men's 'Dirty Paws' is another notable cut from the OST, the interweaving of Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson's finely-tuned harmonies proving their worth as always.

Continue reading: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty OST Album Review

Jose Gonzalez
In Our Nature
Album Review

Continue reading: Jose Gonzalez, In Our Nature Album Review

Jose Gonzalez
In Your Nature
Album Review

In your Nature is Jose Gonzalez's first LP since 2003's Veneer, which only achieved mainstream popularity in 2005, thanks to Mr Gonzalez taking the high road and shilling for Sony. Luckily, the record itself wasn't half bad, but can his latest effort live up to its predecessor?

Well, in a sense the answer is yes, because it gives fans exactly what they were expecting; wistful folk and delicate acoustic guitars. What it doesn't do, is offer anything particularly spectacular, and is as such something of a rehash.
That's not to say it's an inherently bad record; 'How Low' bubbles with the kind of vitriol that's largely absent from his other work, and his cover of 'Teardrop' is way better than that bloke with ginger dreads' attempt. The crux of the problem is that most of the record drifts by inoffensively, and does very little to capture the imagination.

Of course, none of us were expecting a new thrash metal direction; but some progression or augmentation of Veneer's pared back style would have made things at least a bit more interesting. If Jose Gonzalez doesn't start to stray off the beaten path soon, his next album will be another example of diminishing returns, a la Coldplay, and nobody would want that, would they?

Ben Davis

3/5