The Civil Wars ramp up the harder textures, melodic hooks and lyrical despair in the follow-up to their 2011 Grammy-winning debut, “Barton Hollow.” Charged with the emotional drama of an acrimonious split, John Paul White and Joy Williams alternate expressing disappointment with disillusion, heartbreak and hope. Although the band is likely kaput, Columbia is working with an impressive effort. Charms of the bare-bones “Barton Hollow” inform “The Civil Wars,” especially on the heartbreaking duet “Disarm,” the emotional centerpiece of the album, and two ballads of note—the ode to loneliness “Dust to Dust” and “Tell Mama”—which benefit from cascading electric guitar and mandolin, instrumental touches that add grit to the peppy “Oh Henry.” Commercial appeal exists in “Same Old Same Old,” a gentle pas de deux, and the uptempo acoustic number “From This Valley.”
