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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
In Our Nature
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Mute
Release Date: 25 September 2007
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Indie
Summary
Known for his appearance on Zero 7's album, he releases the follow-up to his debut.
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Amazon.com
The singer's gentle vocals and Spanish-meets-classical guitar style make a quietly compelling match, especially so on his sophomore CD In Our Nature, easily the best work--either as a solo or contributing vocalist--that he has released to date.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
In Our Nature is every bit as lovely as "Veneer," obscuring its darker moods in music as delicately bewitching as a morning mist.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Minor gripes aside, however, Jose Gonzalez has crafted a fine album of rare beauty that seamlessly blends righteous indignation with delicate musical panache; a tough balancing act, to be sure, but one that negates the need of a safety net.
Read Full Review >Uncut
This meatier effort offers more of the same dog-eared melancholy. [Oct 2007, p.90]
Dusted Magazine
Gonzalez has wisely resisted the urge to bulk up his sound, and concentrated instead on seeing how far a guitar, his voice and a few continents worth of influences can carry him.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe
Despite the fuller arrangements the whole package remains haunting: pristine on the surface with an uneasy core.
Read Full Review >Magnet
Gonzalez is a romantic at heart, given to an array of lyrical possibilities even as his music ripples with the taut simplicity of someone strumming alone in his bedroom. [Fall 2007, p.96]
Prefix Magazine
It's true that most of the attention Gonzalez received in the beginning was from songs other artists' wrote. The difference with Gonzalez is that he picks songs that fit his minimalist and whimsical approach--and he often makes them better than the originals.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
This is a sparse, minimal and unassuming record that's unlikely to hit anyone over the head with its innovation, but Gonzalez accomplishes much while sounding like he's doing very little.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Like its predecessor, In Our Nature is a collection of sparse acoustic recordings. But it's a more thoughtful and atmospheric work than either "Veneer" or last year's "Stay in the Shade" EP.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
It may take a few listens before the record reveals itself as a relative cauldron of restrained emotion, but it's worth the effort.
Read Full Review >Hartford Courant
Gonzalez's debut disc, 2005's "Veneer," won over fans with its straightforward lack of production, and his sophomore effort, In Our Nature, does not stray far from the path.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
Jose Gonzalez may not be doing anything any differently, but he's also not doing very much wrong.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
The whole of In Our Nature benefits from the air and space around the songs. Rather than attempting to embellish his new album in an attempt to garner a wider audience, Gonzalez keeps to minimal pleasures that make his work an unfussy yet sophisticated joy.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
It is rewarding that the album should end showing his passion displayed as a performer and shining through as a song-writer. The only problem is, with the rest of the album being so slight, it’s may be too easy for most to stop listening before they get to it.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
It lacks the spark of greatness, although 'Cycling Trivialities' and 'Killing For Love' trundle along merrily. [Oct 2007, p.98]
Paste Magazine
In Our Nature’s fingerpicked reveries, sonic gentility and lugubrious vibe might tug at your eyelids, but be warned: Its heavy-hearted sentiments are hardly the stuff of dreams.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
'Time to Send Someone Away' has an expansive, Atmosphere-style hip hop background with held-out strings and a broken, chilled beat. This actually suits Gonzalez’s dreamy vocals while the hiccuping, minimal percussive sound that serves as accompaniment on In Our Nature feels emotionally thin in comparison.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Gonzalez hasn't done much to snazz up his sound for his second album, In Our Nature, another mellow folk record that, at its best, sidesteps coffee-shop commonplaces.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
These songs are never less than lovely, but they're never really more than lovely either.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
There's no denying the power of Gonzalez, and the draw of his voice and guitar. But it's better heard in small doses, as over the course of an album his chosen sound feels limiting. [Summer 2007, p.73]
Mojo
He's a master of umbral moods, and in this respect at least, In Our Nature is a worthy successor to the phenomenal "Veneer." [Oct 2007, p102]
Filter
In Our Nature is a compelling but not fascinating portrait of an artist at ease in his element.
Read Full Review >Blender
Like his debut, is a coffeehouse classical-guitar-and-voice affair long on tonal beauty but short on melody and emotion. [Sep 2007, p.126]
Spin
This sophomore set from the Swedish acoustic troubadour is undeniably pretty but ultimately doesn't hint at much more. [Oct 2007, p.102]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jason J gave it a9:
This record is my only J.G. experience. 'Moody', 'Cerebral', 'Atmospheric' are all appropriate adjectives. If I were arch, I'd say that if Cat Stevens, the band America, and Jerve Villachez could spawn a love child somehow, that that would be a pretty good description of J.G.'s sound. I don't know anything about record production, but I'm pretty sure that this record would have been better if it had a producer with better ears, someone to clean up some of the muddiness of J.G.'s guitar work and to lay off the reverb for an already haunting sound. An enjoyable album. The songs are shockingly short and proletarian poetic. Enjoyable.
Czar gave it a9:
Beautiful album, Down the line Teardrop really blew me away.
Robert S. gave it a10:
Brilliant simplicity, with some catchy hooks that hang around long enough to become earworms!
Adelaide gave it a10:
Jose's music comes to life on this fabulous album.
Andrew A gave it a7:
It's just too similar to Veneer, yet not as great.
John M. gave it a9:
Very intelligent record.
