In my December 2024 review of the Mitmat Foundation Premium turntable mat, I mentioned that I’d received a test pressing of Harkness’s new album, Ciao to the Beauty. As I’ve said before, I’ve known the musician Harkness since public school—age 14, I’d guess—and I’ve watched him in many practices and concerts through the years as he played in various bands. Despite a lifetime of performing, he hadn’t released a record of his own until The Occasion, which I wrote about back in 2022.
The Occasion is one of those records that gets under your skin without you realizing it. I liked it on the first listen; its quirky melodies and complex instrumentation resonated with me right off the hop. I found those melodies sticking with me—after only two listens, I caught myself humming some of the songs. One day it’d be “Shark Fin Soup,” the next day maybe “GM GM.” This seemed a bit strange, as my first honest takeaway from The Occasion was that it sounded far from traditional. With its asymmetrical chords and transitions, I thought, it shouldn’t be this catchy.
But it was. I still go back to The Occasion every once in a while for a quick spin through both sides of the record.
Since the release of The Occasion, Harkness has been a busy lad. He’s toured incessantly, while being followed by a documentary film crew. The documentary—entitled Harkness, appropriately enough—was directed by Maria Markina and produced by Storyline Entertainment for the CBC’s Documentary Channel. The film made its Toronto theatrical premiere on April 13 (at the Royal Theatre) and is now available to stream on CBC Gem.
Just last week, Harkness dropped off a production-ready copy of his new album, Ciao to the Beauty, which will be officially released on April 17. It’s a lovely package, featuring 140gm lime-green swirled vinyl pressed at Precision Record Pressing in Burlington, Ontario, just west of Toronto.
As I said, I was already familiar with Ciao to the Beauty, as I’d listened to the test pressing, straight through, many times. Still, Harkness had some time on his hands, so I spun up a couple of cappuccinos and we sat down to listen to it together.
Like The Occasion before it, Ciao to the Beauty is best defined by its clever, infectious hooks, which are tempered by chord changes that swerve off in unexpected directions. For most of the album, the tone is undauntingly upbeat. These are happy songs topped up by an innocent, almost childlike optimism. Themes of love and hope swirl through Ciao to the Beauty, mashing together the cheeriest songs of the Cure, Cocteau Twins, and the Beach Boys.
This album doesn’t rest on its optimism—it has other tricks up its sleeve. If you didn’t read the credits, you’d be forgiven for thinking there are all kinds of synthesizers filling in between the guitars. You’d be wrong. Harkness employed local session musicians—lots of them—to contribute real horns, strings, and reeds. This is dense, complicated music, but Harkness’s clever arrangements let you focus on the melodies.
Right from the start, with “Falling,” we’re playing hide-and-seek with a dream girl around a county fair, racing between the rides and through the fun house. The catchy melody plays off the backing instruments in a playful dance. It’s a lovely song.
The title track, “Ciao to the Beauty,” is more angular, pushing the melodic limits right to the edge. This song could easily not work, but it does. Again, there’s tons going on in the background, but the arrangement is so slick that it complements the melody rather than distracting from it.
This melodic ingenuity weaves its way through the entire album, which is full of playful hooks that are far more insidiously catchy than they have any right to be. I have several favorites, some of which I find running through my head at the most inopportune moments.
“Kisses We Invent” is a snappy, surf-guitar-infused number, speedy and insistent, with crisp drumming and a fast-paced sense of drive. What’s really odd is that my favorite track on the album is right at the end of side 2. “All the Things You Are” could easily be the opening theme to an upcoming James Bond movie. Huge, insistent, deep, and wide, it sounds like there’s a full orchestra backing up Harkness’s throaty, empathic vocal line.
There isn’t a bad song on this record. I’ve listened through both sides countless times now, and I’m still finding new facets that just leap out at me.
As I’ve said, Ciao to the Beauty is very well produced, and the sound quality is excellent—as good as any pop album in recent memory. The PRP pressing arrived flat and quiet, with plenty of dynamic range. This is a killer record.
A quick aside: back in the mid-’80s, Harkness purchased a custom-made five-string fretless Furlanetto F Bass, and rather than just play it as it came, he commissioned two friends, both artists, to use it as a blank canvas to paint any which way they chose. This was not a cheap instrument, but Dave and Chris are excellent artists. Poring over the bass and trying to identify all of the characters is a fun exercise. The boxer, by the way, is Marvin Hagler, getting clobbered by Thomas Hearns.
But about that earlier test pressing. When Harkness dropped it off, he didn’t have time to hang around for a listen. I took that record down into the listening room, threw it on the European Audio Team Fortissimo S ’table, and listened carefully. I went back and repeatedly compared the sound quality to the production pressing of The Occasion, also flipping over to the VPI Prime Signature, which for some time has been mated with the high-resolution DS Audio optical DS 003 cartridge.
I wasn’t impressed with the test pressing of Ciao to the Beauty. The record was quiet and flat and all, but it sounded compressed and low in overall level, with poor dynamics and a muffled top end. It sounded small.
This was an important process—I know how Harkness works. He pours everything into his music and obsesses over details. I had to be sure of my opinion here. So I spent a whole bunch of listens, over several days, playing both sides of the two copies that Harkness had left with me.
I broke the news to Harkness over the phone, and he headed down the next day for a listen. We repeated my evaluation, swapping between turntables and LPs, his first album and this new one. After an hour or so, he understood my concerns; he left, still as cheerful as ever, but with a small Looney-Tunes Road-Runner cloud trailing behind him.
In a later call, Harkness informed me that he had spoken to PRP, and they had agreed with our conclusions. PRP provided some remixing suggestions that might help alleviate the lack of dynamics and assist with their remastering process.
I wasn’t involved in the remixing or the remastering, but a few weeks later, Harkness stopped by with a new test pressing, and we evaluated it back-to-back with the original. Now we were talking—the revised version was snappy, dynamic, and alive. Instruments just popped now, with dramatically increased front-to-back image depth. Strangely enough, low-level detail was also improved. Now, this was a great-sounding record.
Being involved in this process was intensely satisfying. I’m a consumer of music, not a producer—not in any way. Having the opportunity to use my listening skills to actually improve a musical work in progress was new to me.
On April 13—too late for this column’s deadline—I’ll be attending one of Harkness’s live shows, followed by a viewing of his documentary. I don’t get out much, and I’m really looking forward to this.
You can pick up a copy of Ciao to the Beauty at www.harknessmusic.com. Harkness is on Instagram at @harknessmfa.
. . . Jason Thorpe
jasont@soundstagenetwork.com
