EWAH & The Vision of Paradise’s second album The Warning Birds was recorded towards the end of 2018 at Head Gap Studio in Melbourne, with Finn Keane, who co-produced the album with bandleader and vocalist, Emma Waters (EWAH). The Warning Birds is an exploration in the meaning of paradise that, across its twelve tracks, manages to feel both grim and uplifting in equal measure. Something of a treatise on a world in crisis, the album searches for paradise, starting from a hellish post-apocalyptic world. 

Hailing from lutruwita/Tasmania, EWAH & The Vision of Paradise’s moody sound has been described as “epic post punk with a scope as wide as the Australian skyline.” 

Written and conceived over a protracted period that saw the band deal with the grief of losing loved ones, as well the joys of welcoming new family members, The Warning Birds is the result of the band’s unwavering dedication to their vision – a labour of love, that bandleader and lyricist, Emma Waters (EWAH) describes as “An exploration of the meaning of paradise. Investigating paradise, purgatory and hell on earth through the prism of environmental disruption.”

“We’ve been sitting on this album for a long time now. Working hard at it alone. Chipping away. Coming up against many obstacles and challenges. Deaths, births, empires crumbling, you name it. At the beginning, I laughed at the idea of the difficult second album. Well, it’s five years since we released Everything Fades to Blue”. EWAH continues “This one should’ve been released 2-3 years ago, but stuff kept happening to slow it down. Somewhere along the way ‘The Warning Birds’ became my albatross. There’s a point where finally you get to release this creature, beast, baby, call it what you will, out into the wild wide world and see what happens. Well, thank fuck that time has finally arrived.”   

Speaking on lead single, ‘Hole in the Sky’, a cinematically tense exploration of the band’s home state of lutruwita/Tasmania; the perils of its geographical isolation and perceived idyllic reputation, EWAH says, “Tasmania is often seen as a pristine wilderness; however, it has a potted history of environmental crisis and degradation. Think Franklin River, Lake Pedder, mining, deforestation and salmon farming. It is a place of brutal beauty, harsh weather and moments of political and community divide.”

EWAH & The Vision of Paradise’s debut release, Everything Fades to Blue, was a eulogy to victims of violent crime against women, and captured attention nationally overseas including Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service on BBC Radio 6 (UK), Henry Rollins on KCRW (USA) and back in Australia, was Album of the Week at Edge Radio and Top Ten Albums of the Week at PBS. Single ‘Walk the Night’ picked up regular rotation on Double J. In April 2017, Everything Fades to Blue made The Guardian’s top ten listing of Australia’s best underground releases and was longlisted for the Australian Music Prize (The AMP) 2017.

Release: March 4th, 2022, Part Time Records/Remote Control