May 2025
Wildchild Records—WCR002LP
Format: LP
Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Overall Enjoyment
Three years ago, I reviewed The Occasion, the debut album by Canadian musician Harkness. He’s a bit of a renaissance man, and his interests include art and cooking—he even markets his own hot sauce. Harkness has created enough of a stir that the CBC recently released a documentary about him, but his trips to perform in the US and England haven’t yet generated much interest in his music outside of Canada.
Harkness’s new album, Ciao to the Beauty, could mark a change in his fortunes. It offers further demonstration of his command of songwriting, performance, and studio craft.
“Falling,” the opening track, commences with a brief string intro that ushers us into a guitar-driven pop confection with multitracked harmony vocals and an unforgettable melody. Harkness weaves strings, flutes, and harp into the song, creating a rich feast of sound. It’s sweet without veering into bubblegum.
When I was reviewing The Occasion, I emailed Harkness to see if the strings and other instruments on that album were generated using synthesizers. Nope. He wrote the arrangements and brought in musicians to play them, a practice he continues on this latest release.
The rich harmony vocals on Ciao to the Beauty’s title track bear a slight resemblance to the Beach Boys, but the tune shifts into so many genres—including rock, techno, and power pop—with such ease that it’s pointless to assign any category or influence to it. It’s also exhilarating to hear it unfold. Sounds veer in and out, including barking dogs and splashing water, and they give the track plenty of sonic richness. They add wit and liveliness to the song without pulling it away from its melodic center.
A series of bells brings us into “Sugar Bitch,” which deftly weaves a horn-and-string arrangement into the ear-friendly chorus. I was immediately taken with the unique tone of the rhythm-guitar lines. Harkness has a great ear for getting the details exactly as he wants them, and the guitar’s soft tone remains harmonically firm while other elements grow in layers around it. The final minute of the tune includes a mingling of horns, strings, and voices that’s a clever nod to the Beatles, without letting the reference push out Harkness’s unique approach.
“The Same” is a lovely acoustic-based ballad, with ringing multitracked guitars and a transporting string arrangement. Harkness injects the sound of a dial-up internet signal, which suggests he’s singing about a past love. “Look at All the Love” features some of his most affecting vocals and a use of dynamics and space that highlights the beauty of the chorus.
For all of Harkness’s melodic strengths, he can also rock convincingly. “Meet in the Middle” features a thumping bass line, a snapping drum beat, and razor-sharp guitars, while Harkness’s voice carries a hint of a snarl. “Come and Get It” uses the low rumble of bass and guitars, driven by a huge drum sound, to sustain the song’s toughness, even during the sections with multitracked harmony vocals.
It’s easy to point to the usual influences in Harkness’s music; I hear Rundgren, Brian Wilson, the Beatles, and a strong undercurrent of the Hollies. My guess is that he also appreciates the shameless pop craftsmanship of bands like the Raspberries and the Sweet. He shares the talent those bands had for creating ear candy with a strong sense of rhythm. And naming a song “Come and Get It” suggests that if Paul McCartney isn’t his favorite Beatle, Harkness would still argue that he’s underappreciated.
Despite the occasional reference to his influences, Harkness’s songs go their own way. They veer off into unexpected places and stand confidently on their own. The Occasion opened with its audacious title track, a more than eight-minute pop-music suite, while the rest of the album comprised shorter songs. Ciao to the Beauty matches its predecessor in its confident songcraft.
There’s a lot going on in Ciao to the Beauty, and the recording captures it well. The percussion and strings on “Sugar Bitch” come through clearly, as do the impossibly complex vocal harmonies. The snapping guitars and hard-slamming drums of “Kisses We Invent” leap out of the speakers. The hand claps in the latter song are one of many delights in an album filled with them. As much fun as they are to hear—and I catch new things each time I listen—they serve the songs and don’t overwhelm them.
My green-swirl vinyl copy of the album, pressed by Precision Record Pressing in Ontario, was flat and quiet. I compared the streaming version of the album on Amazon Music with the LP, and I thought there was a bit more space and depth to the music on vinyl—but the difference wasn’t so dramatic that I had a preference.
I’m glad that Harkness is getting some attention in Canada, and I hope the documentary on CBC Gem brings him a bigger audience there. I think he deserves an even larger, international audience. Twenty-five years ago, it’s likely that Harkness would have been the next big thing. He deserves to be that now.
. . . Joseph Taylor
josepht@soundstagenetwork.com
