José González Will Play Veneer in Full at the Miami Beach Bandshell

José González may be one of the most unlikely names for a globally famous Swedish singer-songwriter  — usually, they bear the name Björn or Karl or Ingmar.

Celebrated for his spare yet unsparing guitar arrangements and stark, haunting voice, González came to be born in Sweden in high drama. His parents fled their home country of Argentina after the 1976 coup d'etat, which overthrew Isabel Perón, who succeeded her U.S.-backed dictator husband Juan Perón after his death, during the period of state violence known as the Dirty War (Guerra Sucia). Fearing Peronist death squads would hunt them down, the family jumped the border into Brazil, applied for asylum at the Swedish consulate in Rio de Janeiro, and landed in Gothenburg in 1977, where González was born a year later.

Perhaps this background gave González the perspective needed to make something like Veneer, his 2003 debut album. On songs like "Crosses," with its unsettling tale of internal light and darkness, he channels the Latin folk guitar of figures like Silvio Rodriguez through a filter of Nordic frigidity and alienation. The album, featuring a stripped-down cover of the Knife's synthpop banger "Heartbeats," became a surprise success when it was finally released in North America in 2005, becoming a fixture of Pandora stations and coffee shop playlists. "Crosses" even earned a slot in the season finale of The O.C.

America needed sad guitar music, and José González supplied it.
Now, the singer is preparing to mark the anniversary of Veneer in a big way. He's announced a tour of just seven North American cities where he'll play the album in full, along with some other songs, one assumes — Veneer's runtime is just over 30 minutes. And as it happens — which, let's be honest, it often does not — Miami Beach is one of those cities. He'll perform at the Miami Beach Bandshell next year on May 1, 2024, the tour's last show. Never has there been a better reason to get so excited about sad guitar music. The tour is one part of a Veneer anniversary package that includes a deluxe reissue of the album featuring a bonus disc with live recordings of González's 2003 Gothenburg Concert Hall show, as well as a 24-page booklet with photos, essays, and new liner notes from González.

Tickets will go on sale on Friday, August 11, at 10 a.m. with a presale starting today, August 10, via dice.fm. Presale can be accessed using the code 20YEARS. Find all the North American tour dates below.

4/23/2024 - Vancouver, BC - The Orpheum
4/24/2024 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
4/26/2024 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
4/27/2024 - Oklahoma City, OK - Tower Theatre
4/28/2024 - Dallas, TX - Majestic Theater
4/29/2024 - Austin, TX - Paramount Theatre
5/1/2024 - Miami Beach, FL - Miami Beach Bandshell

José González. 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, at Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 786-453-2897; miamibeachbandshell.com. Tickets cost $46.35 via dice.fm.