The Civil Wars Release New Digital EP 'Between The Bars'

Last year, The Civil Wars released a covers EP entitled Behind The Bars exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day.

Today they released the EP digitally, as well as releasing the title track as a single, an Elliott Smith cover. The record also includes a cover of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' (the duo recorded a cover of the Jackson 5's 'I Want You Back' on their 2011 debut album Poison & Wine), Portishead's 'Sour Times' and the Romantics' 'Talking In Your Sleep'. Their haunting sound and eerie but beautiful harmonies always sets them apart from the crowd, and this EP is no exception.

Yet, the pair have been on hiatus since November 2012. Prior to that point, they had a lot of music already recorded, hence the constant stream of releases throughout the last 15 months, including their self-titled sophomore album which spawned the single 'From This Valley' a Grammy winner (and which John Paul White picked up alone last month - Joy Williams did not attend the ceremony). The duo cited 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for cancelled their European tour and initiating the hiatus, but they have not elaborated upon that statement and have reportedly not spoken since either, with Joy explaining that even she doesn't know what their future holds.

Well for the meantime, let's just hope they still have plenty of music to release. You can listen to 'Behind The Bars' below.