They've performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, are currently ranking at #15 on the US Billboard Alternative Music chart and have had their tracks featured on popular TV shows like The Hills, Without a Trace and One Tree Hill.

Despite these accomplishments, the majority of South Africans don't know anything about Civil Twilight. Sad, considering this three-piece actually hails from Cape Town.

While some have been listening to this band since before they left the Mother City, it's only since they moved to the US in 2005 that they are starting to get some much-deserved attention.

Whether their newfound success is thanks to the Wind-Up Records deal, musical talent, or front man Steven McKellar's haunting vocals, isn't clear. Like Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie, McKellar's voice has the potential to be quite depressing. One listen to the first single, 'Letters From The Sky' or the melancholy 'Quiet In My Town' (written after McKellar's grandmother died) and you'll understand. However, despite a few gloomy undertones, Civil Twilight's lyrics and compositions are actually quite beautiful. Minus perhaps the slightly upbeat, 'Soldier' and 'Something She Said', Richard Wouters and the McKellar brothers have written a little something for everyone. It seems each song on this 15-track debut tells a story; the piano-based 'Human' is reflective, 'Everybody's Got a Trouble' is honest and 'Stolen' is mournful. While you won't love everything on the album, you'll probably appreciate the message Civil Twilight is trying to get across.

As Steven McKellar himself says, 'Probably the most difficult thing I've had to deal with is the realisation that most people don't feel the same way I do about music. Your average person doesn't believe that music can change the world, and doesn't need to believe it. That's my job. But it's a humbling revelation to stumble upon. A hard lesson to learn as a young band wanting to take over the world.' So, yes, while you won't be hauling this album out for your next party play list, give it a listen? no matter how sad it makes you feel. It'll be worth it.