By Divine Right's Jose Contreras has to be one of the most self-deprecating band leaders in the country. Despite the inroads made by aggressive touring and two excellent albums, All Hail Discordia and Bless This Mess (with its top 20-single Come For a Ride), he still feels he and his fellow musicians have a long way to go to earn their place in Canadian music lovers' hearts.

But he feels like he's off to a fresh start on his latest CD, Good Morning Beautiful (even its name implies the dawn of a new day). It's By Divine Right's first album for recent start-up Linus Entertainment, distributed by Warner Music Canada. And those music lovers, whether they're tuned in or not, are in for an earful of infectious rock riffs and pop smarts when the band hits The Planet on Saturday night, as part of the Halifax Pop Explosion. It's their first visit to Halifax since opening for The Tragically Hip a couple of years ago, and Contreras is curious to find out if the impression left during that show stuck.

"I would put us at the top of the 'most unknown band they ever had' list," says Contreras, by carphone from Toronto, of being chosen by the Hip. "Even Eric's Trip, everyone loves them. People from Australia know Eric's Trip. Probably more than they know Moist or Our Lady Peace or I Mother Earth and those bands. And Rheostatics are legends, Change of Heart are legends, and all those bands, it makes sense that they opened for the Hip.

"When we were asked, it was like, 'Whoa!' We haven't even been treated that great in Toronto. We are now, I'm really surprised at how many people come to see us in Toronto, but that's new. We've always been kind of on the outside. We're not mainstream enough to be mainstream, and we're not hip enough to be hip. We're not heavy enough, we're not pop enough, we're not polished enough, we're not laissez faire enough. It's perfect for my agenda."

Normally the word agenda has a sinister undertone to it, and the band IS called By Divine Right (Contreras is fond of calling himself the group's "benevolent dictator"), but the Chilean-born singer/songwriter's only mission is to help eradicate soulless, mechanical music from the planet.

He's the first to admit his mandate isn't an easy one - Good Morning Beautiful's rich sonic tapestry required nearly 14 months in the studio to complete, plus the formation of an all-new band - but when you have a higher calling, you've gotta go with your gut feelings.

"I make music because I have an obligation to my friends in the spirit world," he says, without a trace of irony. "I'm gonna make music no matter what, and I'm a successs in my development as a human being because of it.

"I make the record, then it's the label's job to release it and promote it, so I wish Linus all the good luck in the world. For my part, my band just rocks, so we go out and spread the light."

Providing the batteries for his musical flashlight are new members Colleen Hixenbaugh on guitar, Dylan Hudecki on bass, drummer Cam Giroux and Yarmouth native Brian Borchardt, formerly of Burnt Black.

"I seem to accumulate bands as I travel," says Contreras of his ever-exanding musical family tree. "By the time I finish making a record, I've got a band. It's pretty beautiful the way that all works out.

"When I went into to make Good Morning Beautiful, I wanted to start by myself. I'd had enough of working with people. Then the band grew organically without me even looking for a band or auditioning anyone, I just found them."

Contreras says he now has a band with four lead singers, most of whom handle multi-instrumental duties over the course of a set, including Borchardt (a.k.a.