The Civil Wars’ latest release, a 4-song EP entitled ‘Between The Bars’, came a little bit unexpected but was welcomed all the same. This is not so much a new EP; it was released exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day last year, but last week saw it launch digitally. I hadn’t previously been aware of the vinyl release, so was excited to consume these four covers of well-known songs in all their creepy but beautiful Civil Wars glory.
Perhaps this is a significant failing on my part as a music fan, but I was not otherwise familiar with any of the original tracks aside from of course ‘Billie Jean’ before I did some useful research. Yet, it almost didn’t matter. Joy and John Paul have this uncanny knack for making anything entirely their own, so it blends seamlessly with the rest of their material, a true versatility and pure talent for the mastery of music. Having previously covered the Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’ on their first album ‘Poison & Wine’ and completely blowing my mind for how unrecognisable but beautiful they had made it, I was intrigued to hear what they do with Michael’s legendary ‘Billie Jean’. With a song that is so globally ingrained into society, how would they record something that did justice to the original while setting themselves apart?
Well, always the mavericks, a folky, acoustic approach with alternating and overlapping vocals to create a counterpoint and infectious rhythm was how they chose to make ‘Billie Jean’ their own. And it certainly worked. The resulting recording is haunting, creepy, but unfalteringly sexy in its delivery, the King and Queen of the understated doing what they do best. Portishead’s ‘Sour Times’, in its eerie, abstract mid-1990’s sound, is perhaps more akin to what The Civil Wars tend to produce, not least with their recent tendency towards roots rock yet often stripped-back approach. Shirking the more electronic effect, however, the duo stick to guitars and actually build up the texture instead of keeping it sparse. Instead, punchy and determinedly-strummed electric guitar (warped and eerie in its sound) underlines their combined vocals, before playing with dynamics for differing sections of the song. To take a song that is similar in its articulation and ethos to what they normally produce and then create something that is still them, but actually moves in the opposite direction is just another example of how they keep fans on their toes and refuse to sit comfortably.
The Civil Wars seem to be really good at interpreting slightly weird 90’s indie music. Having the near-blank canvas of an acoustic, minor-key song with a simple, adaptable melody, they are not limited by the requirements of the original track and instead slow down the tempo, with gradually building instrumentation and a rather lovely delivery of the melody. Instead of a song that is hauntingly uneasy, it is hauntingly beautiful, really rather sweet and highlights their chemistry as a duo. For The Romantics’ ‘Talking In Your Sleep’, they also move away from the 1980’s rock in which it was originally constructed, building it up from scratch by basing it on piano and using their vocals to carry the song.
With every release The Civil Wars continue to surprise and indulge fans in some of the most creative and emotionally fulfilling music that exists in the Country/Americana/roots amalgam. I just hope they recorded a lot more music before they took that mysterious hiatus.
