Gig review: Junip, Glasgow ABC

SOME bands formed and split-up and reformed again in the time it took psychtinged electro-kraut-folk Swedes Junip to release an album.

Jose Gonzalez is enjoying taking a backseat on tour with Junip. Picture: Complimentary

Their debut Fields arrived in 2010 a full 12 years after Gothenburg school friends José González, Tobias Winterkorn and Elias Araya first jammed together.

Before accusing them of ludicrous perfectionism, bear in mind that the band was side-tracked as frontman González’s solo career took off sharply, propelled particularly by his cover of The Knife’s song Heartbeats, as popularised in a memorable Sony TV advert.

It is González’s solo career that’s now taking a backseat, as he enjoys life back in the Junip fold touring their second, self-titled album.

Live, the Junip line-up swells to six members, assembled in a horseshoe formation around vocalist-guitarist González, on drums, bass, guitar and an array of percussion and synths – Winterkorn’s otherworldly-sounding Moog the most characterful among them. It’s Alright and especially the mellow uplifting Walking Lightly were early highlights.

González’s understated voice is a warm and delightful instrument, and Junip’s freely, yet shrewdly arranged songs supported and enveloped it prettily and powerfully, while covering a wide-range of bases stylistically. Your Life, Your Call could have been French electro chill-out duo Air on an 80s FM pop tip, In Every Direction ventured confidently into Bon Iver’s shrewdly-rousing alt-folk territory, while the noisy uplift of After All Is Said And Done suggested a pocket Sigur Rós.

Rating: * * * *