The Roches ‘Moonswept’ Doesn’t Carry You Away

The three Roche sisters possess lovely voices and the ability to create stunning vocal harmonies that just take one’s breath away. Much of this is due to Maggie’s unusual contralto, which gives the Roches a distinctive sound even when soprano Terre and midrange Suzzy chime in. Indeed, the vocals are the star on Moonswept. Individually, each of them sing beautifully, but it’s when they join together that the listener’s heart starts to pound excitedly.

Unfortunately, the Roches wrote most of the 14 tracks here, and they are not very good. The songs are often cloying and offer less than insightful comments on aging, human relationships, and other such granola fodder. However, there are three excellent tunes written by others. “Long Before”, by Suzzy’s daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche, suggests how ephemeral and important friendships can be. The Roches also cover two Paranoid Larry songs, “No Shoes” and “Jesus Shaves”, which contain lots of clever wordplays and provide the three singers with opportunities to engage in demanding stop and start tempos and sing gloriously overtop of each other’s voices.