This Swedish musician spins delicate songs that are deceptively simple. JAIME HOLGUIN checks in with this classically-trained guitarist who first found the spotlight when his song was used in a commercial.
Jose Gonzalez plays his latest single, "Down The Line," for asap in New York. (AP photo/Caryn Brooks)
Swedish singer/songwriter Jose Gonzalez' cover of "Heartbeats," the ethereal electronic song by the avant indie band The Knife, brought him more exposure than he'd ever imagined.
The song, which was featured in a Sony Bravia commercial, helped propel his debut album, "Veneer," straight into the Top Ten of the U.K. charts.
Now that his soft-spoken ballads have caught the music world's attention, he's set to release a second record, "In Our Nature." On it, he explores the dark side of human nature, choosing to sing about emotions like anger and hate and characteristics like selfishness and greed.
"I've been trying to avoid traditional love songs and tap into darker stuff," he says. "It's about finding an angry tone, instead of one that's about whining about a girl that left you."
For proof of that bleak spirit one need not look any further than the album's first single, "Down The Line."
"There was dirt upon your hands / doing the same mistake twice, making the same mistake twice," he sings.
It's the song the multilingual musician chose to perform for asap's JAIME HOLGUIN in this latest installment of "One Mic, One Song."
And though you might be tempted to wonder, as you take in this intimate performance, whether he was accompanied by a second guitarist and a percussionist, rest assured it was just him -- equipped with only his nylon-stringed guitar and his voice. Yes, he's that good.
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Jaime Holguin is an asap reporter in New York.
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