Local Valley

Local Valley is the fourth studio album by Swedish singer-songwriter José González, released on 17 September 2021 by City Slang and Mute Records.^[6][7]

Local Valley
Studio album by José González
Released	17 September 2021 (2021-09-17)
Studio	Studio Koltrast (Hakefjorden, Sweden) Studio Koltrast (Linné, Sweden)
Genre	Folk,[1][2][3] indie folk[4][5]
Length	41:55
Label	City Slang Mute
Producer	José González
José González chronology
Live in Europe (2019) Local Valley (2021)
Singles from Local Valley
"El Invento" Released: 17 February 2021 "Visions" Released: 14 April 2021 "Head On" Released: 9 June 2021 "Swing" Released: 18 August 2021

It succeeds González's third studio album Vestiges and Claws, which was released in 2015, as well as the live album Live in Europe.^[8]

Four singles preceded Local Valley, including "El Invento",^[9] "Visions"^[10][11] "Head On",^[12] and "Swing".^[13]

Background

Local Valley was recorded and produced by José González at Studio Koltrast in Hakefjorden and Studio Koltrast in Linné, Sweden.^[14][15] "Line of Fire" is a re-recording of the 2013 song of the same name by González's band, Junip.^[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.3/10[17]
Metacritic	76/100[18]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[19]
American Songwriter	[1]
Clash	7/10[20]
Gigwise	8/10[2]
The Line of Best Fit	7/10[3]
Mojo	[16]
Pitchfork	6.6/10[5]
PopMatters	7/10[21]
Uncut	8/10[14]
Under the Radar	8/10[4]

Local Valley received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[18] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.3 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.^[17] In an 8/10 review, Sam Richards of Uncut wrote, "His always inventive finger- picking is more expansive and fluid, his vocals less vexed, his melodies more direct. As a result, [second track] "Visions" might be the best song he's written since his 2003 debut single "Crosses"."^[14] Victoria Segal of Mojo wrote, "Local Valley has no lows, nor any thrilling highs, but it's an even, easy pleasure from start to finish."^[16]

Track listing

All tracks are written by José González, except where noted.

Local Valley track listing^[22]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"El Invento"		2:33
2.	"Visions"		3:55
3.	"Void"		3:09
4.	"Horizons"		3:16
5.	"Head On"		4:45
6.	"Valle Local"		2:23
7.	"Lasso In"		3:47
8.	"Lilla G"		2:00
9.	"Swing"	José González Hannele Fernström[a]	3:33
10.	"Tjomme"		4:56
11.	"Line of Fire"	González Tobias Winterkorn Elias Araya	3:08
12.	"En Stund På Jorden"	Laleh Pourkarim	2:42
13.	"Honey Honey"	González Stefan Kozalla	1:48
Total length:			41:55

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional lyricist

Charts

Chart performance for Local Valley

Chart (2021)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[23]	41
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[24]	72
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[25]	156
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26]	20
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[27]	43
Scottish Albums (OCC)[28]	25
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[29]	77
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30]	25
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31]	41
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[32]	9
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[33]	12
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[34]	29