José González: "For this album, I didn't buy any new gear. I decided if I'm going to put time into something, it would be on rehearsing guitars and refining the songs"

José González
(Image credit: Press)

José González has never put much faith in borders or national identity, and that principle lies at the heart of his fourth studio album, Local Valley.

Born in Sweden and raised on the Brazilian bossa nova, latin folk and Cuban Nueva Trova of Silvio Rodríguez played at home by his Argentine parents, González's teenage years were soundtracked by US hardcore bands and post-rock experiments like Tortoise, before he began to put his classical guitar training to use in his own songwriting.

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Matt Parker
Features Editor, GuitarWorld.com

Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.