Sweet Cecilia – Sweet Cecilia

The late Al Berard shed tears of joys the first time he heard his daughters and niece singing angelically together. And for good reason, Laura Huval and Maegan Berard, along with first cousin Callie Guidry, have an uncanny chemistry with their gale force harmonies.

On its eponymously titled debut disc, producer Joel Savoy captures Sweet Cecilia’s raw emotion well. It’s often powerful. It seems that these women simultaneously channel the same emotions into a single, high-voltage current.

While blood harmonies are the common denominator, there’s some vocal distinction between the trio—Callie with her deep and sturdy pipes, Megan with airborne, pop-edged stylings and Laura falling somewhere in between, though closer to Meagan.

While they sing and harmonize as if their lives were dangling by a thread, their debut is also a very daring but honest one of no-holds barred original material. With no covers to hide behind, they sing of failed relationships, life’s ugly hardships and standing up for who they are. They’re not afraid to profess their spirituality but do so in a non-proselytizing manner.

Most songs were written in the past few years. The oldest, “Broken Fences,” was co-written by Laura and her father a dozen years ago when she was too independent for lasting love.