The Civil Wars

     Sometimes life gives us deep, deep experiences, ones that are so powerful it literally brings us to a crossroads of our destiny. These experiences happen to all of us, and are such a combination of emotions and thoughts that it takes years, sometimes even decades, to interpret and understand. Very rarely do we ever see another's experience like this, and when we do it is most likely because we are a part of it. Even more sparsely do we ever get to see it from an outside perspective. When that happens, it almost feels wrong, like you should not be seeing/hearing/experiencing this because it is another's fight for their very soul and destiny. Though music can create that kind of intimacy, all too often it doesn't. When it does, though, it is pretty apparent, and sacredly beautiful.

     The Civil Wars' self titled second album is just that, a look inside the lives of something more than just music making. It is the look into a relationship that should never have happened, and the effects on themselves and others from it. Simply put, they are singing to each other, instead of with each other. For me, this is what makes a good artist great, or a good album great. It is the difference between listening to music and feeling music. These people aren't just playing their music, they are living it.

     Joy Williams and John Paul White are the creators and singers in the band. They met in Nashville in 2008, and released their first album in 2011. They recorded multiple songs and compositions for many movies and for other albums, including the Hunger Games (They co-produced the hit Taylor Swift track "Safe and Sound"), and in 2013 they released their latest album, self titled as The Civil Wars. Though musically it differs from their previous material, it reaches different levels of emotions.

     Joy is the focus point here, with her almost whiny vocals soaring across the country blend of acoustic and electric guitars and the occasional mandolin and banjo, giving an ethereal feel to the folksy blend. Her voice becomes almost angelic once combined with the dancing harmonies of John Paul. John's part is none the less despite her focus though, as he provides the grounding to allow the flow between Joy's delicate, and flying vocals with the rustic instruments to make the whole thing legendary. The lyrics are brutally honest, and make the album all the more chilling, speaking of forbidden love and other lovers.

     The X factor that makes the whole thing something more than just a listen though, is the chemistry of the two. More than simply singing with one another, these two sing to one another. They truly feel and believe what they are so intimately, longingly, and regretfully singing to each other.

     The first track, titled "The One That Got Away" illustrates this perfectly:

I never meant to get us in this deep

I never meant for this to mean a thing

Oh, if I could only go back in time

When you only held me in my mind

Just a longing without a trace

Oh, I wish I never seen your face

     Combine the lyrics with the music and chemistry of John and Joy, and you have something that literally puts chills up my spine every time I hear it. It is a ballad that has gone horribly wrong, and has turned into a funeral march. While many of the songs on this album are similarly and hauntingly noir, it is possibly the few genuinely happy tacks that invoke the most chilling emotions of the doomed relationship, as they describe just how happy things could have been. "From This Valley" paints this through a beautiful hymn of holding on to hope and love.

     In the end, this album may be the last we see from The Civil Wars, and while I am sad to see them go and especially in such a tough way, it is beautiful to be able to hear, and feel the truly human emotions and experiences that we all go through, yet rarely see in others. As said previously, it is haunting, chilling, and rich with beauty. Definitely worth a few listens.