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09/06/2005 Entry: "Veneer - Chicago Tribune"

The Chicago Tribune nails what is so resonant about Jose Gonzalez's "Veneer":

"...unlike so many records that are compared with (Nick) Drake's, Gonzalez's striking debut CD, 'Veneer,' really is a kindred spirit to Drake's classic 'Pink Moon.' With its first few thrummed, nylon-string notes, opening track 'Slow Moves' vividly evokes the delicate melodic poetry of early John Martyn. Similarly, the gentle, autumnal melody of 'Crosses' and the hushed hypnotic drone of 'Deadweight on Velveteen' are truly bathed in a 'Pink Moon' glow. Yet Gonzalez's dry, felt-toned singing and fragile lyricism never overtly mimic Drake or Martyn so much as they borrow from those past greats. And when Gonzalez's Argentine roots show, as on the Latin-tinged 'Remain,' they give his music a unique sonic fingerprint."