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''Civil Dusk'' is the third solo album by Australian musician
Bernard Fanning Bernard Joseph Fanning (born 15 August 1969) is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist of Queensland alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989. Born and raised in Toowong, Brisbane, Fanning ...
, a followup to his 2013 album '' Departures'', and is the second album following the disbanding of Fanning's band
Powderfinger Powderfinger were an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins ...
in 2011. The album was released on 5 August 2016. The album signals Fanning's return to more of an acoustic folk sound, more akin to his first solo album, '' Tea & Sympathy'', than the
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
sound of ''Departures''. ''Civil Dusk'' is released as part one of a series of two albums, the second instalment, ''Brutal Dawn,'' was released on 26 May 2017. It won at the 2016 ARIA Music Awards for Best Adult Contemporary Album, it was also nominated for Best Male Artist, but lost to Flume for Skin.


Background and production

The writing process for the album began towards the end of 2014, in northern
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, ending approximately a year later in
Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. Following Fanning's return to Australia in early 2016, he set about recording for ''Civil Dusk,'' alongside friend and producer
Nick DiDia Nick DiDia is an American record producer, engineer and mixer currently residing in Australia. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles and later Atlanta before moving to Byron Bay, Australia. Since the early 1990s, he has amassed over 40 millio ...
, at La Cueva Recording, a home recording studio that the two developed. Taking such an approach was a new experience for Fanning, used to recording in professional studios in comparison with the open-floor layout of the home studio. DiDia believes such a layout helped to make communication easier, enhancing the recording process. The album places a particular focus on consequences and decisions, though Fanning states that it is not only coloured by his own experiences. On describing the album, Fanning says: "Sometimes, particular decisions appear to be the most sensible or realistic path to take. A civil, pragmatic compromise. But the passage of time reveals those decisions to have been flawed and to have far deeper and wide ranging consequences than predicted at the time. We all live with the consequences of our decisions but have daily things to attend to." Within the scope of decisions, the album explores a number of issues—from "Belly of the Beast" exploring Fanning's belief that the state of politics is "just a failure at all levels across the globe", to ideas of loss and devotion in songs such as "Emerald Flame". The album's name is drawn from a photography term, civil twilight, described by Fanning as " alkingabout the light in the sky when the sun has gone below the horizon, but you can still make out all the objects", a direct reference to the album's core theme of decisions, and their lasting consequences. The album's cover photography is by Karen Lynch of Leaf and Petal, the work of whom Fanning's wife discovered whilst browsing a Spanish
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
site, which upon Fanning's inspection, he found to " itperfectly with the lyrical themes." ''Civil Dusk'' was mastered at Studios 301 in
Alexandria, New South Wales Alexandria is an Southern Sydney, inner southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Alexandria is located 5 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local government ar ...
by
Leon Zervos Leon Zervos is a mastering engineer who has worked with artists including Pink, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys, and Willie Nelson. Life and career Leon Zervos began his mastering career in 1982 at the then EMI Studios 301 in Sydney, where ...
.


Touring and promotion

From October through to mid-November 2016, Fanning embarked on an Australian-wide tour, accompanied by Australian artists Dustin Tebbutt and Ainslie Wills. Concerts received generally favourable reviews - Bernard Zuel of
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
describing the atmosphere at Fanning's State Theatre show as "safe returns on a comfortable investment".


Reception

''Civil Dusk'' has received generally favourable reviews. It has been described by ''
Rolling Stone Australia ''Rolling Stone Australia'' is the Australian edition of the United States' ''Rolling Stone'' magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture, published monthly. The Australian version of ''Rolling Stone'' was initially published in 197 ...
'' as Fanning "re-embracing an old honesty, reclaiming some of the identity that he shrugged – deliberately enough – when setting out alone", blending elements of ''Tea & Sympathy'' with the likes of
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...
and
Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...
. Fanning's politically-charged closer, "Belly Of The Beast" was described as "an intriguing cut perhaps best described in the form of a thought experiment: imagine if Cat Stevens had written
Sympathy for the Devil "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and credited to the Jagger–Richards partnership. It is the opening track on the band's 1968 Studio album, album ''Beggars Banquet ...
." However, ''The Music''s Mac McNaughton described the album as having "produced a collection on which he sounds kinda bored, not knowing whether to kick around a country pub (on the half pissed 'What A Man Wants)'' or rocking out a horrible Status Quo pastiche (on 'Change Of Pace')", stating that "''Civil Dusk's'' lyrical unrest is mesmerising, but unsure musical footing makes for a challenging listen." The songs as a whole were seen as "a touch predictable" by Double J, with Fanning "not interested in trying to win you over", but as "surely the soundtrack to many dinner parties, road trips, backyard barbecues and quiet nights in the near future."


Track listing

# "Emerald Flame" – 4:32 # "Wasting Time" – 3:15 # "What a Man Wants" – 3:32 # "Reckless" – 3:36 # "Rush of Blood" – 4:00 # "Change of Pace" – 3:22 # "L.O.L.A." – 3:56 # "Unpicking a Puzzle" – 3:35 # "Sooner or Later" featuring
Kasey Chambers Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country music, Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier, South Australia, Mount Gambier to musicians Diane and Bill Chambers (musician), Bill Chambers. Her older ...
– 3:31 # "Belly of the Beast" – 5:56


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


References

{{Authority control Bernard Fanning albums 2016 albums