Music Review: Jose Gonzalez Performs at Bush Hall

Jose Gonzalez is an oddity. He’s Swedish, of Argentinean descent, plays classical guitar and has just made an understated masterpiece of an album on a techno label. Veneer was released a few months ago on Peacefrog to critical and commercial success, as playable by dance heads as it was by Jazz FM beardstrokers. His sparsely lyriced songs usually run to no more than three minutes - Veneer is a rarity for a modern album at just over half an hour long - and centre around his delicate, hypnotic guitar playing.

That 27-year-old Gonzalez commands a headline spot at Bush Hall indicates the speed with which his star is rising, and the crowd tonight are held enraptured. It’s a perfect venue for him: intimate at 350 capacity, with elegant original architecture visible on its whitewashed walls. “I like this room,” Jose says half way through.

It’s clear from the opening chords of 'Deadweight On Velveteen' that the audience is knowledgeable and here to really listen, as a hush of concentration falls. 'Heartbeats' is genuinely affecting and intimate; 'Crosses' is cheered even before he starts to sing. Gonzalez doesn’t give much in the way of performance – just a few glances up at the audience every now and then – but undoubtedly has presence. His sublime guitar technique is captivating in a live setting, something recordings don’t capture. For 'Stay in the Shade', a song which hints at his struggle with introversion, he is joined by a bongo player whose subtle backbone gives solidity to the remainder of the set.

There’s three new songs here which indicate growing lyrical maturity – something arguably lacking from Veneer. 'The Sensing Owls' (A Swedish phrase meaning, as Jose usefully informs us, ‘there’s something fishy going on’) has satisfyingly complex wordplay, as has encore 'Send Someone Away'.

But it’s the covers which really shine, and there’s four of them, if we include 'Heartbeats', a take on fellow Swedes The Knife. Kylie’s 'Put Your Hand On Your Heart' receives the lovelorn Gonzalez treatment to magical effect, thanks to guitar work which verges on banjo twanging by the end. Set closer, Massive Attack’s 'Teardrops', surpasses even this as Jose somehow manages to coax the thick bass drones of the original from his guitar. It’s powerful stuff, and, a standing ovation later, Jose is back with us for the final cover – this time Bronski Beat’s 'Smalltown Boy' – minus the synth hook of the original of course.

The set may have been short at around 45 minutes, but, like the album, it was very sweet. Jose Gonzalez is a talented artist with a unique sound, and with increasing musical confidence he stands poised to crack the mainstream.