The Civil Wars civilly discuss their split and new album

“Great art is birthed from great tension. That”s very much where we are,” says The Civil Wars” Joy Williams in this behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the duo”s self-titled album, coming out Aug. 6.

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And, man, you can cut the tension with a knife. Williams is dancing around to be polite as she can in her comments, while John Paul White looks like he would rather be getting a root canal or someone is just standing slightly off camera with a gun to his head. He seems completely shut down, other than while singing or playing, and she just seems sad.

After making “Barton Hollow,” the album which garnered the Nashville duo two Grammys, and lots of touring, the pair announced they were pretty much done. And while it”s nice to think they may find their way back to each other, there”s nothing in this video clip, which premiered on NPR, to give fans any hope. But at least we get one more album of music, and judging from the first single, “The One That Got Away” (which almost seems like it could be about each other), we”ve got a great break-up album coming.

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