by Rod Christie 

Who: Beautiful Senseless
What: melancholy, atmospheric rock
Where: Guelph, ON
To Contact: Andrew Hopkinson, (519) 763-4982, info@beautifulsenseless.com, www.beautifulsenseless.com.

Stirring and understated, the layered sounds on Beautiful Senseless’ 2003 disc The Warmest Rain evoke both density and clarity, if such a creature is possible. The Warmest Rain is the second release for this sextet, recorded in diverse locations including Dublin Street United Church in Guelph, ON, and keyboardist Andrew Hopkinson’s apartment over the course of a year. Shared duties amongst three vocalists, accompanied by mountainous guitars, keyboards and trumpets, as well as the judicious inclusion of guests Lewis Melville on pedal steel and banjo, and Cathy Anderson on cello makes for a dreamy, rootsy experience. The fact that they are from musical hot spot Guelph (Three Gut Records, The Constantines) and write self-assured, hooky pop music should have garnered them much more attention than they have received so far, but their brand of artful subtlety is more about emotional honesty than being rock stars.

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