Swedish singer-songwriter José González may have broken through around the world as a solo artist with his stunning cover of the Knife’s “Heartbeats,” but the nylon string guitarist also put out an EP with a band a bit before the solo hype set in. González, drummer Elias Araya, and keys player Tobias Winterkorn, aka Junip, released their 5-song debut, Black Refuge, way back in 2005, but the trio reconvened late last year for an album that “will be out sometime [this] year,” according to González’s official site. Details are scant for now on said new Junip album, but in the meantime…
The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González, directors Fredrik Egerstrand and Mikel Cee Karlssons’ new documentary about González premiered at the Göteborg International Film Festival late last month. And though North America probably won’t see a theatrical release for this film, here’s hoping a DVD is on the way.
An excerpt from Variety’s Alissa Simon from her brief review:
Shot over a three-year period (although the chronology is never specified), the pic shows Gonzalez on tour in Japan, Singapore, Spain, the U.S. and U.K., and in his rehearsal studio, trying to compose songs for his second album, “In Our Nature” — and pondering life’s persistent questions, such as how the mind works. From time to time, cheery, childlike animation illustrates Gonzalez’s voiceover narration. Best animated sequence depicts the meeting of Gonzalez’s parents during Argentina’s “dirty war” years, their flight to Sweden and his birth.