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Aug 18, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Mikel Cee Karlsson

José González is releasing his first new album in over six years, Local Valley, on September 17 via Mute. Now he has shared another single from it, “Swing,” via a video for the song. The song and video are both intended to celebrate body positivity. Mikel Cee Karlsson directed the video. Watch it below.

“‘Swing’ is a song with (almost) only good vibes!” says González in a press release. “It was musically inspired by high-life from West Africa and Caribbean music—layered light guitars and a melodic bass line on top of a beat from a drum machine app. It’s a song about dancing and following your natural impulses. It’s ok to move your butt whoever you are, wherever you are!”

Karlsson had this to say about the video for “Swing,” which features beachgoers: “I was thinking of ideas for ‘Swing’ when I stumbled upon a scientific paper that focused on the behavioral patterns of birds and their movements in the sky. I found the natural choreography of the birds really beautiful. Like a form of dance, shaped for survival. That gave me the idea to for an alternative kind of dance video, using everyday scenes and set in a commonplace, like an average Swedish beach. I wanted to see what natural choreography I could find there. In the basic interaction between people, animals, and objects. Trying to highlight specific movements and patterns in order to find some banal, but beautiful and iconic little snapshots from everyday life, and make them dance.”

Local Valley includes “El Invento,” a new Spanish language song González shared in February, and “Visions” (which was one of our Songs of the Week). Then he shared a video for “Visions” and announced some co-headlining U.S. tour dates with Rufus Wainwright. Then González shared its next single, “Head On,” via a video for the single (which was also one of our Songs of the Week).

The Swedish singer/songwriter/guitarist’s last studio album was 2015’s Vestiges & Claws.

Local Valley was recorded at Studio Koltrast Hakefjorden, a studio set up by González in his family’s summer house, north of Gothenburg.

In the previous press release the musician said the album “is similar to my other solo albums in sound and spirit, a natural continuation of the styles I’ve been adding through the years both solo and with Junip. I set out to write songs in the same vein as my old ones: short, melodic and rhythmical, a mixture of classic folk singer songwriting and songs with influences from Latin America and Africa. It’s more outward looking than my earlier works, but no less personal. On the contrary, I feel more comfortable than ever saying that this album reflects me and my thoughts right now.”

Of the themes on the album, González added: “Many of these songs have a crystal-clear, secular humanist agenda: anti-dogma, pro-reason. There’s no political agenda, though, at least not in a classical left-right spectrum. Maybe in a globalist-secular vs. theocratic-nationalist way: the focus is on underlying worldviews, and on our existential questions as smart apes on a quest to understand ourselves and our place in the cosmos.”

José González 2021/2022 Tour Dates:

August

19-22 – Brecon Beacons, UK – Green Man Festival
25 – Wiesbaden, Germany – Kulturzentrum Schlachthof
26 – Hamburg, Germany – Stadtpark Hamburg
27 – Neustrelitz, Germany – Immergut Festival

September

5 – Cabane des Becs de Bosson, Switzerland – PALP Festival
6 – Kirchberg, Luxembourg – Amphitheatre Park Kirchberg
20 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater *
21 – Des Moines, IA – Hoyt Sherman Place *
23 – Minneapolis, MN – Northrop At UMN *
24 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre *
25 – Carmel, IN - The Palladium at The Center For The Performing Arts *
26 – Detroit, MI –Cathedral Theatre at The Masonic Temple *
28 – Washington, DC – The Anthem *
29 – Boston, MA – The Orpheum Theatre *
30 – New York, NY – The Rooftop at Pier 17 *

October

2 – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre *

November

4 – Antwerp, Belgium – Da Roma
5 – Paris, France – Le Trianon
6 – Köln, Germany - Carlswerk Victoria
7 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
8 – Nijmegen, Netherlands – Doornroosje
9 – Berlin, Germany – Astra

December

1 - Brighton, UK – Brighton Dome
2 – London, UK – Cadogan Hall
3 – Gateshead, UK – Sage Gateshead
4 – Liverpool, UK – Grand Central Hall
5 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy
6 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall

April 2022

25 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
27 – London, UK – The Roundhouse

* with Rufus Wainwright

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