José González shares a playful, lighthearted, Spanish-language track, “Pajarito,” and its accompanying video.
The song, his first since 2021, was written with his children in mind, and blends his tender acoustic guitar with bright, whimsical melodies.
“Now and then, I want to write songs that are timeless, simple, and carefree,” says González. “‘Pajarito’ is about growing up, learning things, and eventually becoming independent. As usual, there’s also an existential undertone — the meaning of life is something that can emerge gradually as one gets to know the world, more as something you discover for yourself and not necessarily something dictated from above. This one is inspired by songs like ’59th Street Bridge Song’ (Simon & Garfunkel) and ‘Río’ (Silvio Rodríguez), but also by all the children’s songs that have become part of our everyday life in recent years (Alice Tegnér, Georg Riedel, María Elena Walsh).
“This is the follow-up to Lilla Gumman (Lilla G), which I wrote when I was thinking of Laura. Of course, I had to write a song dedicated to Mateo as well!
“The cover is inspired by Swedish folk art – allmoge and the Dala horse. Here is a ‘Dala bird.’ Painted by Hannele Fernström and layout by Robert Samsonovitz.”
Speaking on the video, González says: “I’ve been curious about technology and how it has led humanity to where we are. Understanding the huge potential and unforeseeable implications of artificial intelligence, I felt curious to explore current tools in a playful and simple way for this light-hearted song.
“We started prompting Sora and VEO in September with lines like “A little bird and its parent by the Swedish archipelago, late summer. Clumsy, cute, adorable.” After a chat with video maker Jonny Sanders, we decided to make it a concept video, so we let the models come up with a plot and video prompts. We chose the bullfinch because of its nice colors.”
González’s October 2024 US tour, which he was unfortunately forced to cancel due to illness in the family, has been rescheduled and will start next week on November 10, 2025. If you had tickets for the October 2024 tour, they will be valid for the rescheduled 2025 show in your city. The tour will see González visit many cities that he has not performed in for over a decade and will span his entire career and catalog. Full dates are listed below.
JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ – NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES 2025
NOVEMBER
10 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre
11 – Little Rock, AR – Robinson Performance Hall
13 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
14 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
15 – Durham, NC – The Carolina Theatre
16 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
18 – St. Louis, MO – The Hawthorn
19 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre and Ballroom
20 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
González is currently in the studio working on new material for what will become his fifth studio album, his first full-length collection of original songs since Local Valley in 2021. More information is forthcoming.
