José González launches the North American leg of an international headline tour tonight in Montreal, QC. The September tour, celebrating the recent arrival of Against the Dying of the Light, continues throughout fall, with highlights to include a very special show at Los Angeles, CA’s renowned Hollywood Bowl supporting Gregory Alan Isakov with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra on September 20. The tour then continues into Europe, for complete details and ticket information, please visit jose-gonzalez.com/tour-dates.
"The process of coming to terms with reality without losing hope is easier said than done. Thankfully, Against the Dying of the Light provides the right mix of
stirring calls to action, with acoustic guitar and moments of meditation
to make the years-long process a little less daunting."
– Pitchfork
“The singer-songwriter’s ambitious new record blends heady, wide-ranging subject matter with gorgeously atmospheric, guitar-focused arrangements…Ultimately, Against the Dying of the Light succeeds as a whole because it’s so layered, offering aesthetic beauty and room-filling atmosphere on the surface and tangled concepts to wrestle
with the deeper you go. These are qualities that Mr. González has been combining
in his music all along, but perhaps never as effectively as he does here.”
– Wall Street Journal
"While the subject matter is equally heavy and heady, González also presents his art with the effervescent, seductive sound that is the strongest through line in his career…
at a harrowing time across the world, he also gifts us with a ray of hope."
– Flood
"Against the Dying of the Light is perhaps González’s most passionate and challenging song cycle." – Glide
González’s fifth studio LP and first new collection of original songs in more than four years, Against The Dying Of The Light - which follows, and in many ways serves as a sister volume to, 2021’s acclaimed Local Valley - sees the Gothenburg, Sweden-based singer-songwriter and guitarist once again commenting on humanity and its uncertain future through the power of his distinctively engaging, deeply contemplative, acoustic-based songcraft. Inspired by the forward-thinking work of Jonathan Haidt, Liv Boeree, Yuval Harari, and Steven Pinker, González presents a wide-ranging collection of nuanced songs that explore big ideas with clarity and intention. The album explores topics such as game theory, moral philosophy, and the narratives we use to explain our world. González also confronts the ethical ambiguity of modern technology, which drives progress while simultaneously challenging our sense of humanity. These themes are delivered with warmth and immediacy through his intuitive vocals and singularly inventive finger-picking guitar.
Against The Dying Of The Light includes recent single, ‘A Perfect Storm,’ The track, which sees González warning against what many AI experts describe as a “race to lose control,” was accompanied by an immersive, intentionally confrontational new visual that utilizes AI to further the dialogue on the complicated debate over its applications in society.
Further highlights include the soulful ‘You & We’ as well as the dynamic title track, ‘Against the Dying of the Light,’ the latter joined by an official music video, directed by filmmaker Fredrik Egerstrand (known for 2010’s award-winning documentary, The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González) and streaming now on YouTube. González’s lighter side is represented by the album’s carefree, Spanish-language first single, ‘Pajarito,’ dedicated to his son, Mateo, and joined by a playful official music video inspired by the interaction of Swedish folk art with artificial intelligence.
“Against The Dying Of The Light is a collection of songs reflecting on humanity,” says González. “Who we are – tribes of sentient apes with stories that sometimes are incompatible with each other and tools that could eventually lead to dystopia or extinction. It’s also a reflection of how we create hurdles to human flourishing by stubbornly clinging to dogmatic ideologies, where people follow dudes who pretend to know shit they don’t.
“As a concerned world citizen, I wrote these songs as a reflection of our times. Times of amazing progress, but also worrying backslides to dogmatic tribal ideologies and an extremely uncertain future. These are songs about how we can navigate humanity towards flourishing on an individual and a collective level. They can be listened to just for the sounds, harmonies, and rhythms, but the lyrics are meant to inspire people to engage and take action by collaborating to solve collective problems. For humanism and enlightenment values and against the dying of the light.”
González recently took the 10% Pledge, a public commitment to give 10% of his income to effective charities fighting extreme poverty via Giving What We Can. Members of his Pledge Club have thus far donated over $450,000 to Against Malaria Foundation and other highly effective charities as listed by Giving What We Can. For more information or to request an invitation to González’s Pledge Club, please visit givewithjose.com.
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