The Roches

After a 12-year hiatus, the Roches have returned to make music together with Moonswept. The absence hasn’t gone unnoticed — there is some tremulousness in the voices that has developed in the last decade, a careworn edge that comes with time. The occasional twist of pitch can generally be overlooked in favour of the warmth and blend that these three sisters’ voices create — a twisting blanket of memories and comfort, with a good dose of humour. The arrangements are painstakingly done, being complex and tight, and would make a music geek itch to pull the different bits apart and see how they all work inside. The last song on the album, "Jesus Shaves,” seems like an iPod misstep at first but really does recount the shaving of an everyday savoir, one who’s just trying to make a life for himself in our complicated world. However, one of the nicest surprises on the album comes from a track that sounds nothing like the others: "Long Before” is sung by Lucy Wainwright Roche, daughter of Suzzy Roche and Loudon Wainwright. It’s clean and pure, and gives the torch to a new generation of artists while the last one is still holding on and giving their songs to the world.