Debut studio album from Sweden's Jose Gonzalez. Veneer was originally released in 2003, but took nearly two years to make it to the US. When they finally did make it here, Gonzalez's sparse recordings, usually just his guitar and double tracked vocals, were serenading large parts of the population gently to sleep. The standout of his debut is his cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats." Set to the sound of expertly finger picked guitar, the cover strips the original's electro pop down to a sweet lullaby. In doing so Gonzalez follows in the footsteps of other great folk covers like M. Ward's "Let's Dance," Iron & Wine's "Such Great Heights," and Frente!'s "Bizarre Love Triangle." Includes the songs: "Remain," "Crosses," "All You Deliver," and "Save Your Day." Eleven tracks in all. Released by Mute on 180 gram vinyl.

• 180 gram vinyl pressing
• music label: Imperial Recordings 2003 / Mute 2012

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 10/2015