José González has released “Head On,” accompanied by video, directed by longtime visual collaborator Mikel Cee Karlsson (Fever Ray, Junip). Tomorrow, June 10, González will perform “Head on” live for the first time in an interactive online show called “Up Close & Personal” to be broadcast live from The Botanical Garden in his hometown of Gothenburg followed by an interactive Q&A. This intimate show will offer the rare opportunity to request songs in real-time allowing fans to get up close, switch camera angles themselves, and chat to González and other fans, seeing more than they would even at an in-person show. Included in the ticket is the exclusive online world premiere of album Local Valley on September 12.

“I wrote ‘Head On’ as a combat song or a list of instructions…a manual. I mean both ‘straight ahead’ and head ON – as in switching on your mind,” says González. “It was inspired by Fela Kuti’s ‘Zombie’ and the way I used to write lyrics for my hardcore band. It’s also in the vein of my song ‘What Will’ from 2015. That one and this one are both anti-dogma, pro reason songs. Some of the terms I use like ‘rent seeker’ or ‘value extractor,’ are from books on economics that I’ve been reading, like The Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato.”

“The animations for ‘Head On’ are based on a cellular automaton called ‘Game of Life’ created by mathematician John Horton Conway,” adds Karlsson. “’Game of Life’ has emergent properties, meaning that complex forms can arise, or evolve, through simple individual parts. Without any designer, plan or intent. In the video, we used visuals from ‘Game of Life’ as an analogy for the flow of information; bits of information forming patterns. Adapting. Evolving. Mutating. Like memes, or mind viruses; positive, neutral or negative. Travelling from mind to mind in a never-ending war of ideas that we all participate in and are influenced by.”

González will tour his forthcoming release Local Valley with a U.S. co-headline tour alongside 2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The “Unfollow The Rules In The Local Valley Tour” begins September 20 at Kansas City, MO’s Uptown Theater and then travels through an October 1 performance at Glenside, PA’s historic Keswick Theatre. Tickets for all announced dates are on sale now; limited VIP tickets and an exclusive merch bundle are also available. González has also confirmed an upcoming series of European live dates, including headline shows and a number of top-billed festival performances. For complete details and ticket information, please visit jose-gonzalez.com/tour-dates.

In addition, González recently announced two ticketed interactive online performances. The first, entitled “Up Close & Personal,” will be an intimate and personal evening of live music and conversation, presented live from Gothenburg, Sweden’s Botanical Garden on Thursday, June 10. The second online performance – set to stream live from Gothenburg on Sunday, September 12 – will feature the first full production of the upcoming LOCAL VALLEY world tour, along with pre-and post-show interaction with González. Both events will showcase innovative new features allowing viewers to seamlessly switch camera angles, show appreciation by digital applause, enter chat rooms, and more. Limited tickets are available now through June 10, exclusively via GIGSET HERE.

José González
TOUR 2021

JUNE
10 – Gothenburg, Sweden – “Up Close & Personal” Livestream Performance

JULY
30 – Madrid, Spain – Noches del Botanico

AUGUST
7 – Shambrook, UK – DJ Koze presents @ Tofte Manor
27 – Neustrelitz, Germany – Immergut Festival

SEPTEMBER
5 – Cabane des Becs de Bosson, Switzerland – PALP Festival
12 – Gothenburg, Sweden – World Premiere LOCAL VALLEY Tour Livestream Performance
20 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater *
21 – Des Moines, IA – Hoyt Sherman Place *
23 – Minneapolis, MN – Northrop At UMN *
24 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre *
25 – Carmel, IN – The Palladium at The Center For The Performing Arts *
26 – Detroit, MI –Cathedral Theatre at The Masonic Temple *
28 – Washington, DC – The Anthem *
29 – Boston, MA – The Orpheum Theatre *
30 – New York, NY – The Rooftop at Pier 17 *

OCTOBER
1 – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre *

NOVEMBER
4 – Antwerp, Belgium – Da Roma
5 – Paris, France – Trianon
6 – Köln, Germany – Carlswerk Victoria
7 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
8 – Nijmegen, Netherlands – Doornroosje
9 – Berlin, Germany – Astra

DECEMBER
1 – Brighton, UK – Brighton Dome
2 – London, UK – Cadogan Hall
3 – Gateshead, UK – Sage Gateshead
4 – Liverpool, UK – Grand Central Hall
5 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy
6 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall

* ALL U.S. DATES w/RUFUS WAINWRIGHT