Roscoe & Etta Tell Mesmerizing Stories on Self-Titled Debut

Roscoe & Etta, the self-titled debut album from the duo comprised of Maia Sharp and Anna Schulze, is a masterful example of the magic these acclaimed singer-songwriters can create together. The project takes your mind down a wandering path, one built from themes of pure love, trust, honesty, and liberation. Blending the strengths of rock and folk music, the duo has struck gold across 11 original tracks.

The drum intro on “Play On” builds an alluring groove that immediately draws you into the project, and what follows is an imagery-driven track that finds the singers trying to decipher if following temptation is a sound idea as they intriguingly paint a portrait of someone with an intoxicating aura who is either a “lullaby” or “siren song.” “I am redeemed in the sweetest dream of marmalade skies, and faithfully lost inside your lion eyes, black or white cold as ice, the thrill is never gone, play on,” they sing wistfully, with a slight hint of Southern rock in the electric guitar. They follow this interesting notion with the gentle “You Already Know,” a ballad-esque number about the tenderness in a pure connection. “And I don’t have the curse of conversation, and you don’t need the words to understand, well nothing gets lost in translation, with just your hands,” Schulze sings, capturing the purity of the song’s message in her voice as Sharp provides tender harmonies in the background.

The already revered “Broken Headlights” is a standout, co-written by Sharp and Joey Ryan of The Milk Carton Kids and originally recorded by Ryan and Sara Bareilles. “I was just waiting for the right time to give it another life and this was it,” Sharp told the website buzzbands.la. Roscoe & Etta put their own captivating touch on the track by contributing a serene vibe that expands on its already tranquilnature, bringing the cinematic lyrics of the song to life with their whimsical vocals.

The duo weaves various themes throughout the project, including that of trust on “Somebody,” tepid love on “Broken Headlights,” gracefully searching for liberation with “423,” and raw vulnerability on “Not Your Friend.” They even manage to cleverly compare love to “Chocolate Sauce,” playfully singing “Impossible to save for later, disrespectful not to savor.”

While the lyrics serve as the nucleus of the project, their words are bound together by pristine production. Each song sounds unique while still uniting cohesively in a way that makes it feel like a movie. Sharp and Schulze play nearly all the instruments on the record and don’t even need words to tell their story on the title track, letting the “cranky old guitars” that serve as the duo’s namesake represent them by creating an enchanting sound for 2 1/2 minutes. 

Between them, the L.A.-based act have penned songs for the likes of Art Garfunkel, Edwin McCain, and Bonnie Raitt and have had songs featured in Academy Award-winning documentaries and MTV’s Awkward. Gathering experience from their respectable solo careers, the duo beautifully highlight one another’s strengths across their debut project. “If you find the right person to sing with, you’re working half as hard and getting twice the power. It’s a resonance that lifts you both up,” Sharp says in the duo’s official bio. “When both of us are singing, it feels like each voice is the melody,” adds Schulze. They live these words throughout Roscoe & Etta, as their deep lyrics and shimmering voices hit you right in the soul, naturally immersing you in the material. Roscoe & Etta feels like the beginning of a journey for the rising duo, one that is bound to contribute thought-provoking messages and deep soul into the world, much like each composition on this album.