Gonzalez has to be one of the best acoustic guitar players I have heard in some time.  Full text...

There may not be much variation in pace in Veneer, but those who succumb to its languid charm will find that this becomes one of their most played albums. An album to grow old with, this is a wonderful notice of a very special talent.  Full text...

Its soft, glowing aura of meshed rhythms and delicate guitar leads is a far cry from the original's sugary, scorching synths and dance-floor-ready grooves.  Full text...

Jose Gonzalez is not quite a troubadour, but possibly something altogether more compelling.  Full text...

This album is a beautiful group of songs with literate lyrics and a melancholy vibe.  Full text...

Jose Gonzalez's debut album is an intimate work of quiet beauty.  Full text...

Veneer earns one of the most tenuous distinctions a pop album can: background music.  Full text...

This CD is a must-have for lying in front of a fire reading a book, or in the bathtub with a glass of wine, or lying in the garden in my hammock on a warm breezy summer afternoon or for dancing, swaying back and forth wrapped naked in the arms of your lover.  Full text...

A warm and rewarding little album  Full text...

Armed with just a dextrously plucked Spanish guitar and his own warm but clipped vocals he paints intimate portraits that sound like classics from a golden singer/songwriting yesteryear.  Full text...

Veneer is a soft-spoken lullaby for any time of day.  Full text...

His lyrics are almost always unsettling, whether outright sinister ("Poke the body with a stick roll it down / Ignore the moaning as it tumbles to the ground") or darkly comforting ("The grave looks cold but we're still young / We're still young"), yet there's no overbearing central character that ties them together.  Full text...

Gonzalez’s fingerpicking throbs with the twang of plucking as hard as possible, creating a great tension between the urgent strumming and Gonzalez’s passive and sweet voice.   Full text...