The Beat Surrender

Jose Gonzalez is a man with an amazing voice, a good guitar player and enough talent in his little finger to mean that he shouldn’t need to rely on cover versions to make his name.

He was excellent live on the recent Zero 7 tour and his album is very pleasant listening even if it doesn’t naturally keep your attention after repeated listens. So why having made his name with the cover of obscure Scandinavian popsters The Knife’s best moment (Heartbeats) has he now decided to cover the Kylie Minogue track Hand On Your Heart?

It’s a valid question because it looks to be an attempt to keep him in the public eye to me rather than for artistic reasons. The sales of the album have slowed down considerably now and Veneer doesn’t contain any obvious single choices, so if in doubt chuck in a new version of a pop song done in a completely different style and you have an instant hit on your hands.

Not sure the public are that gullible anymore though myself, so come on Jose lets have some new material from you please don’t sell yourself short