The Civil Wars

 

This is a gorgeously dark masterpiece that deserved its #1 debut.  It would be a crying shame if it's the band's final recording.  There is obviously a spiritual/mental/emotional connection between these two people so where is the surprise that physical would follow......allegedly.  Stir in the band's manager is Joy Williams' husband and what a soap opera that European tour must have been.

Here we are a full quarter after the record's release and it's still hanging on the charts somewhere around a buck fifty, quite the testament to the quality of the recording because it's had zero support.  There won't be any more videos or appearances to push sales through the holiday selling season.  Hell, John Paul White has disappeared into the Alabama backwoods and hasn't been heard from in nearly a year.  "Irreconcilable difference of ambition" my ass.  Maybe the boy is pissed that he seemed to take a back seat to Williams on this record, I don't know.  Even Charlie Peacock, Nashville-based Christian music songwriter/producer extraordinaire hasn't been able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

This is a powerful album that is best absorbed.  Envelope yourself in a quiet room sans distractions or slip between a set of nice headphones and prepare to be won over.  If you want sing-alongs, this isn't for you.  Always fond of interpreting other's music, this one is buried deep in the queue...



That's far superior to the Smashed Pimples version.   
                  
I'll relate this to another successful duo's breakup decades ago and predict that Williams becomes the Simon and White ends up the Garfunkel.