Saunas and beautiful people with angular ice white hair are a couple of the great things Sweden has given to the world. Alongside these national treasures should be Jose Gonzalez.

He should be neatly bottled and labeled so that he can remain purely Scando-tastic and uncorrupted by the outside world. Born in Sweden to Argentinean parents, Jose Gonzalez is clearly a superior being (and a guitar picking genius).

When Jose first walked on stage and humbly took his seat I was struck by his awkwardness and unease at performing to such a large, buzzing audience. I almost felt guilty for being part of the expectant crowd. If only the rest of the Shepherd's Bush Empire would disappear and Jose could play to my friend Holly and I in his flat in Haga, Gothenburg.

His tall figure hunched over the guitar seemed to be pressed down by the weight of the audience's gaze. It reminded me of tales of the late Nick Drake who was rumored to have played from behind a curtain or with his back to the audience to escape the feeling that everyone was looking at him. But when the first few bars rippled out across the theater, he seemed to hide behind the music; introverted yet strangely sparkling at the same time. After the third song, strangely sweet animations began to appear on the screen above his head and as the gaze of the audience lifted form him, so did his unease. He relaxed, I stopped worrying about him and we all settled down to enjoy the show.

Jose Gonzalese first entered the wider popular consciousness with the hauntingly beautiful track 'Heartbeats', a cover of fellow scando-band The Knife, that was featured on that commercial (the one with all the colorful balls bouncing down the street, for anyone who doesn't know). Since then he has been widely praised and enjoyed by the population at large. And really, there is little not to like about the minimal, melodic songs which include covers of Kylie's Hand on Your Heart and Massive Attack's Teardrops.

Live, his voice was incredible, perfect record quality...and then some. This vein of music can often be less exciting live than a high-energy band, but there was a certain magic in hearing the squeak of his fingers across the steel strings. There were subtle differences in each track from album. He kept each song tantalizingly pop-song short in length as I suspected that otherwise, live, songs might stray into fifteen minute territory. The crowd were very appreciative and the now famous shhh-ing at people chatting created a community atmosphere in the auditorium.

Jose was accompanied at various points throughout the show by two friends adding percussion and helping to create a big warm sound. Visually, the show was quite minimal. Simple Scandinavian-style animations by Elias Araya were sporadically projected on the screen behind the musicians showing gently rocking white trees with arms or my personal favorite, a little twitching white horse whose squishy head changed size throughout the song! The atmosphere was warm and friendly and I was happy to sit back and daydream...of cooking meatballs with Jose in a little wooden house in the woods??

Usually I vehemently detest encores especially second encores but as my friend holly commented, Jose's return to the stage felt very genuine. We were both warm and cosy from our pre-show Italian dinner and beer and were happy to sit a be lulled by the Jose's strumming. His second encore was almost like a gift to the audience. He took his seat and began to play the song that everyone had been waiting to hear. Heartbeats had been noticeably absent from the set and I had assumed the over-playing and advert association had put him off the song. As he bashfully came back on stage, he played the song with an air of ..."Okay, seeing as you all have been very nice, here it is.." Aw, Jose.

After he finished, he stood up, shyly smiling and gave an awkward little bow, and then another and waved and self-conscious little wave before carefully steeping off stage. You could almost hear him saying to himself, "Don't trip, don't trip....."

I wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home so he could serenade me cooking dinner. Well done Sweden, you've produced another winner!