Although he's probably best known for his 2003 cover of Swedish electronic music duo The Knife's "Heartbeats", it's José González “Far Away” that wins him a place on this playlist. Written exclusively for Rockstar San Diego's open-world wild-west epic: Red Dead Redemption, “Far Away” has become something of a classic example of video game music done right. Although the scene directly preceding it features possibly the most offensively bad Irish accent ever heard in a game, it's the point at which protagonist John Marston gallops across the Mexican border into Nuevo Paraiso backed by González's wistful and intimate musings.
González, originally from Gothenburg in Sweden, has been a key figure in the recent indie folk revival alongside artists like Beirut, Iron & Wine and Bon Iver. His distinctive style intermingles stripped back acoustic guitar with haunting vocal melodies. As his music has grown in popularity he has found himself on a number of high profile soundtracks including Crazy, Stupid, Love with his band Junip, and Ben Stiller's 2013 Walter Mitty adaptation. Another of his songs is also featured alongside track 4 from this playlist, Syd Matters' “Obstacles” on the Life is Strange Soundtrack. What sets “Far Away” apart from his other work is how well it captures the subtle tensions between freedom and foreboding that permeates Red Dead Redemption.
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