Tasmanian singer and songwriter EWAH (Emma Waters) took four years to make this album with her band. Yet her vision didn’t dim on any of its eight noir-rock tracks. Every aspect coheres into a whole – from the dusky cover art of clouds and mountains to the frontier sprawl of tremolo-heavy guitars and crescendos swelled by synthesiser. Songs brood and build into lush, long outros, some of them satisfyingly loud.
Midway through comes Vision Of Paradise – the summit of this record’s romanticism. “I had a vision of paradise/and it looked like you,” Waters sings, her voice all big-hair 80s diva; her candour drawing you close. Like Paradise Motel or Mazzy Star, this is romance that is bruised, blue and too heart-on-sleeve for a group setting. Enjoy it alone where you can pull it tight.
