AMG Review of Rendezvous

Mark Deming
All Music Guide

The Bedsit Poets have expanded to a trio for their second album, with Mac Randall now an official member alongside founders Edward Rogers and Amanda Thorpe, but anyone who fears this might mar the group's simple charm will be glad to know that Rendezvous is as elegant and beguiling as their debut. There's a warm, homey intimacy to Rendezvous, with most of the arrangements centered on Thorpe and Rogers's simple yet emotionally evocative vocals and their superb harmonies. Producer Don Piper has the good sense not to clutter the musical landscape with needless gingerbread, and the mostly acoustic backgrounds lift up the melodies without getting in the way of the vocals, and Thorpe and Rogers are well served by not having to fight with their accompanists for space. With the exception of a lovely cover of Big Star's "I'm In Love With A Girl" (with the Faces' "Ooh La La" cleverly interpolated), these fourteen songs are all originals, and the Bedsit Poets clearly have learned a few things about love over the course of the years; from the sweet bossa nova lite of "Daze For Love" and the playful, good natured lust of "NoTel RendezVous" to the mournful wintry contemplation of "New Year" and the hard-won life lessons of "The Highs Can't Beat The Lows", they make the funny, the sad and the joyous sides of romance come to life with equal passion and clarity. Rendezvous is an album that's modest in scale, but its pleasures are not -- the Bedsit Poets have created a set of songs that reveal both joy and gravity in their spare, low-key presentation, and it's a beautiful and often moving work.