Pre-order Local Valley on our exclusive red vinyl (limited to 500 copies) in the BV shop
José González will release Local Valley, his first album in six years, on September 17 via Mute. He made the album at his summer home in Gothenburg, Sweden and calls it “a natural continuation of the styles I’ve been adding through the years both solo and with Junip." He adds, "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.”
The album includes "El Invento" from earlier this year and he's just shared the gorgeous "Visions," a song brimming with springlike life -- including some nature sounds amongst the delicately plucked guitar and airy harmonies. “We are the apes that are starting to understand the universe and our place in it," says Jose of the song. "We are changing our surroundings in an exceedingly rapid pace, so much that we’re becoming stewards of our planet whether we like it or not. As Stewart Brand said, ‘We are as gods and we have to get good at it.’ The lyrics came to me in early February 2020 just as there were more and more tweets about the possible pandemic. The topic of the song felt very timely. You can hear the birds and ambient sounds from the veranda, along with a layer of synth loops in the background." Listen below.
We've got an exclusive limited red vinyl edition of Local Valley available for presale in the BV Shop. There are only 500 copies available, so don't sleep on ordering yours.
Check out the artwork and tracklist for Local Valley below.