Visionary singer-songwriter-guitarist José González has announced today’s premiere of a brand new song. “Head On” is available now at all DSPs and streaming services. The track is joined by an official music video, directed by longtime visual collaborator Mikel Cee Karlsson (Fever Ray, Junip) and is streaming now at YouTube. Consequence posted an "Origins" feature this morning detailing Gonzalez's inspiration for the song and video.
“I wrote 'Head On' as a combat song or a list of instructions...a manual. I mean both ‘straight ahead’ and head ON - as in switching on your mind,” says González. “It was inspired by Fela Kuti’s 'Zombie' and the way I used to write lyrics for my hardcore band. It’s also in the vein of my song ‘What Will’ from 2015. That one and this one are both anti-dogma, pro reason songs. Some of the terms I use like ‘rent seeker’ or ‘value extractor,' are from books on economics that I’ve been reading, like The Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato.”
“The animations for ‘Head On’ are based on a cellular automaton called ‘Game of Life’ created by mathematician John Horton Conway,” adds Karlsson. “’Game of Life’ has emergent properties, meaning that complex forms can arise, or evolve, through simple individual parts. Without any designer, plan or intent. In the video, we used visuals from ‘Game of Life’ as an analogy for the flow of information; bits of information forming patterns. Adapting. Evolving. Mutating. Like memes, or mind viruses; positive, neutral or negative. Travelling from mind to mind in a never-ending war of ideas that we all participate in and are influenced by.”
“Head On” marks the latest single from González’s eagerly awaited fourth solo album. LOCAL VALLEY will arrive via Mute on CD, standard black vinyl, limited edition colored vinyl, and at all digital platforms on September 17. Pre-orders are available now; an assortment of exclusive bundles featuring such limited edition extras as signed art prints, an original portrait painting, and LOCAL VALLEY tote bag are available for pre-order at the official Jose González webstore.
González will celebrate LOCAL VALLEY with a U.S. co-headline tour alongside 2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The “Unfollow The Rules In The Local Valley Tour” begins September 20 at Kansas City, MO’s Uptown Theater and then travels through an October 1 performance at Glenside, PA’s historic Keswick Theatre. Tickets for all announced dates are on sale now; limited VIP tickets and an exclusive merch bundle are also available. González has also confirmed an upcoming series of European live dates, including headline shows and a number of top-billed festival performances. For complete details and ticket information, please visit jose-gonzalez.com/tour-dates.
Tomorrow evening (June 10), González will perform "Head on" live for the first time in an interactive online show called "Up Close & Personal" to be broadcast live from The Botanical Garden in his hometown of Gothenburg followed by an interactive Q&A. This intimate show will offer the rare opportunity to request songs in real-time allowing fans to get up close, switch camera angles themselves, and chat to González and other fans, seeing more than they would even at an in-person show. Included in the ticket is the exclusive online world premiere of album “Local Valley” on September 12.
In addition, González recently announced two ticketed interactive online performances. The first, entitled “Up Close & Personal,” will be an intimate and personal evening of live music and conversation, presented live from Gothenburg, Sweden’s Botanical Garden on Thursday, June 10. The second online performance – set to stream live from Gothenburg on Sunday, September 12 – will feature the first full production of the upcoming LOCAL VALLEY world tour, along with pre-and post-show interaction with González. Both events will showcase innovative new features allowing viewers to seamlessly switch camera angles, show appreciation by digital applause, enter chat rooms, and more. Limited tickets are available now through June 10, exclusively via GIGSET HERE.
JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ
TOUR 2021
JUNE
10 – Gothenburg, Sweden – “Up Close & Personal” Livestream Performance
JULY
30 – Madrid, Spain - Noches del Botanico
AUGUST
7 – Shambrook, UK - DJ Koze presents @ Tofte Manor
27 – Neustrelitz, Germany – Immergut Festival
SEPTEMBER
5 – Cabane des Becs de Bosson, Switzerland – PALP Festival
12 – Gothenburg, Sweden – World Premiere LOCAL VALLEY Tour Livestream Performance
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
1 – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre *
NOVEMBER
4 – Antwerp, Belgium – Da Roma
5 – Paris, France – 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
* ALL U.S. DATES w/RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
# # #
González’s first new studio recording in more than five years, LOCAL VALLEY includes the recently premiered songs, “Visions” and “El Invento,” both available now at all DSPs and streaming services. Praised by Stereogum as “a soft, thrumming acoustic track about finding peace in uncertainty,” “Visions” was recently joined by an official music video, directed by Mikel Cee Karlsson and streaming now via YouTube. In addition, González recently performed “Visions” as part of National Geographic’s star-studded Earth Day Eve 2021 celebration, streaming HERE.
WATCH “VISIONS (LIVE AT NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S EARTH DAY EVE 2021)”
“El Invento” was also joined by an official music video directed by Karlsson and streaming now at YouTube. González’s only publicly released song to feature lyrics in Spanish, for which he credits his young daughter with helping him during the writing process, the track was met by worldwide acclaim upon its arrival earlier this year, with Paste writing, “The song asks questions of creation and purpose against a gentle Spanish guitar as the video offers a sweet glimpse into simple, domestic life,” adding, “The music video for ‘El Invento’ features the song’s lyrics in both Spanish and English, making it easy to enjoy the profound lyrical work of González in either language.”
Hailed by Rolling Stone as “someone whose subtle, carefully crafted music delivers rewards to listeners who know how to wait,” José González’s stellar career can only be described as a dream. Throughout it, he has won a range of honors, performed on high-profile network television shows, headlined prestigious festivals, sold-out concert venues on virtually all continents, and collaborated with Ben Stiller on his film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. González’s warm, intimate voice and tender harmonies, underlined by a dexterously plucked Spanish guitar and muted percussion, deliver profoundly thoughtful lyrics largely revolving around ideas of civilization, humanism, and solidarity. A sincere, artful performer whose singular approach to songwriting and sonics sets him worlds apart, José González is in a class by himself.
JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ
LOCAL VALLEY
(Mute)
Release date: September 17, 2021
