José González will release his first full-length studio album in six years with the forthcoming Local Valley, due out September 17th via Mute.
The album’s announcement on Wednesday was preceded by the release of González’s Spanish-sung single, “El Invento”, which arrived back in February. The 13-track studio effort will be González’s first full-length studio project since 2015’s Vestiges & Claws.
To go with the album’s announcement, González and Mute have shared its second single, “Visions”, an acoustic-driven track that features the famliar sounds of birds and nature to welcome the listener in. The warm-sounding track hears González deliver the optimistic, reassuring lyrics, “Look at the magic of reality while accepting with all honesty / That we can’t know for sure what’s next / No, we can’t know for sure what’s next / But that we’re in this together.”
González said about his new song in a press statement,
We are the apes that are starting to understand the universe and our place in it. We are changing our surroundings in an exceedingly rapid pace, so much that we’re becoming stewards of our planet whether we like it or not. As Stewart Brand said, ‘We are as gods and we have to get good at it.’ The lyrics came to me in early February 2020 just as there were more and more tweets about the possible pandemic. The topic of the song felt very timely. You can hear the birds and ambient sounds from the veranda, along with a layer of synth loops in the background.
Listen to the new single below.
José González – “Visions”
[Video: José González]
Scroll down to check out the album’s artwork and tracklist, and click here to pre-order Local Valley.
González is scheduled to take part in National Geographic’s “Earth Day Eve 2021” virtual celebration scheduled for next Wednesday, which will also include performances and appearances by Willie Nelson, Maggie Rogers, Angélique Kidjo, Ziggy Marley, Yo-Yo Ma, and more.
