B-Sides: Fate of musical duo The Civil Wars up in the air with new album release

In November, the folk duo The Civil Wars, comprised of singer-songwriters Joy Williams and John Paul White, abruptly announced they were canceling all upcoming tour dates, citing “internal discord” and “irreconcilable differences.”

This came as a shock, and rumors took off. Not many people seemed to buy the nebulous and vague explanation offered by the band, and I have to admit I was one of them. The Civil Wars had toured extensively and, quite frankly, had a lot of time before this announcement to discover these differences in “ambition.”

In any case, fans of The Civil Wars now have reason to rejoice – sort of. Rolling Stone is reporting that the duo will release a self-titled album in the late summer. But that’s essentially all the detail we have.

So here’s the question: What does this album mean? The pair clearly has the talent to be a fixture in the music industry for a long time, having already won two Grammys and appearing on “The Hunger Games” soundtrack after releasing just one album, the breakout “Barton Hollow.” “Poison & Wine” is one of the best songs written in the last decade. And this next album promises to be just as excellent.

But is it a breakup album, the last hurrah of a band fading out of the musical world? Or is it a sign of life, the potential next breath of a band making its way out of drama and adversity only to emerge stronger on the other side?

Obviously, fans of the band – myself included – are desperately hoping for the latter, because it would be a shame for the music world to lose such a talented duo.

The album artwork for the pair’s next release has dropped as well, and lends itself to even more discussion than Williams’ and White’s statement. The cover is stark, featuring simply black smoke rising in front of a white sky. Rolling Stone asked if the black smoke represents The Civil War’s crash landing after such a speedy rise to prominence. And that might be true.

But I have another potential interpretation. What if we need not be looking at the black plume of smoke on the cover, but on the white sky beyond it? Is the black smoke the band’s current situation, or does the white sky symbolize the brighter future on the horizon of an admittedly rocky last several months?

There’s really no way to tell for sure, and neither Williams nor White are offering any conclusive statements to help us along. The only way we’ll learn the future of the band is by listening to the album, and seeing if the band tours in support of it. Maybe they’re on an indefinite hiatus, but not a permanent breakup. Maybe this album will serve as the band’s eulogy.

We’ll just have to wait and listen.

What do you think this new album will signal for The Civil Wars? Email Bain at abain@media.ucla.edu.

“B-Sides” runs every Monday.