“I went from thinking about adding a lot of instruments and making it a more symphonic kind of record … to thinking that what I do best is guitar, and that there is more to explore with just guitar and vocals.”

- Jose Gonzalez to critic Mark Ziemke

Singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez, born in Sweden to Argentine parents, created ripples in America in 2005 when his debut album, “Veneer,” landed on many critics’ “Best of” lists. Some of these same critics are saying his follow-up, In Our Nature, is more of a continuation than a sequel. This is largely true in terms of sound, but the lyrics to Gonzalez’ sophomore album reveal a greater awareness of and concern for the human condition.

The trademark sound is back: stripped-down, immediate, lo-fi. As you listen to Gonzalez’ plaintive voice and hear his fingers slide up the nylon strings as he occasionally shuffles in his seat or exhales softly during an instrumental interlude, you feel as if you’re lounging on the couch in your friend Jose’s basement while he records into his four-track.

The sparse arrangements showcase seamless, fluid melodies that sometimes move in surprising directions. But what sets him apart from many traditional singer-songwriters who favor a strumming, sing-song, open chord sound on a steel string guitar is his mastery of the classical guitar and the occasional influence of South American folk-pop. One wonders how he can keep so many melodic strands going. In this, he’s like a master juggler.

The guitar, joined briefly by percussion and even more briefly by keys, is front and center, too. His vocals are low enough in the mix to let the listeners focus on the totality of the experience, the interplay of voice and strings.

The songs on “In Our Nature” explore, question and attack the status quo, the danger in humankind’s current direction, and the fissures in the human condition. Gonzalez is more razor-sharp here than on “Veneer,” and there is a greater sense - in lyric and melody - of foreboding, occasionally even menace.

“Punch line after punch line / leaving us sore,” he sings in the opener, “How Long,” and it is easy to see it and songs like “Killing For Love” as belonging in the lineage of anti-war protest music. It’s “us versus them,” he seems to be saying, the warmongers versus the peace lovers, but he implicates himself and, by extension, all of us, on songs like “Time To Send Someone Away.”

 This one, along with “The Nest,” exhibits Gonzalez’ text-painting skill: the ability to match music with text. The intermediate text-painter thinks, “It’s easy. Put sad music with sad lyrics. Minor chords, slow tempo. Then bouncy major keys for happy lyrics. Allegro, allegro!”

And of course this is often a good idea - the tried-and-true. But Gonzalez has learned, perhaps from prose writers like Shirley Jackson, that sad, stark, perhaps ominous plot turns can sometimes be all the more effective when you set the scene with frivolity.

“Time To Send Someone Away” reminds me of Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the classic short story where villagers celebrate at a festival that will end when one of them draws the unlucky ticket to destruction-by-stoning. The gentle, mirthful melody of “Time To Send Someone Away” stands in horrific contrast to lines like “They lead you to their maze when no one’s asked them to / But hey, you’re walking over bodies just to witness something new.”

One of the more vitriolic pieces of writing on In Our Nature is “Abram,” an allegory about the institutional Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Islam, Christianity. “Abram” is sleepwalking “with a delirious head” as current affairs roll on. It’s the kind of challenge that will stir up anger in Christians, much like Gandhi’s quote, “I like your Christ, but I don’t like Christians. They are so unlike your Christ,” but can also lead to repentance and honest dialogue with those who think our “acclimation is slow” and that we’ve “aided delusion.”

Gonzalez’ cover of Massive Attack’s “Teardrops” is a high point, although he doesn’t reinvent this one as much as he did with past covers. And the disc-ending “Cycling Trivialities” is a nod (perhaps unintentionally so) to Ecclesiastes.

This record makes you think. You’ll disagree at times and you’ll also find common ground with Sweden’s troubadour. I suspect that Gonzalez would consider this high praise.

Jose Gonzalez will appear in Louisville, KY at The 930 Listening Room Saturday, December 1 with Cass McCombs. Visit http://www.the930.orgfor more information.

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