Warren H Williams is a living national treasure and one of the most celebrated Indigenous artists in Australian country music. Born in Hermannsburg, 120 kilometres west of Alice Springs, he has enjoyed a prolific career as a singer, songwriter and guitarist, releasing acclaimed projects including Urna Marra’ and Winanjjara: The Song Peoples Sessions with The Warumunga Songmen. His talents extend beyond music, with his musical The Magic Coolamon premiering in 2007 and his television program Pmarra Country launching on NITV in 2008. His achievements include the 2012 Red Ochre Award, induction into the Hands of Fame at Tamworth, NAIDOC Artist of the Year in 2006, and multiple NT Indigenous Music Awards. A highly sought-after guitarist and collaborator, Warren H continues to perform, record and write with artists and family across the Northern Territory.
Warren H Williams is entering a new chapter in his long musical career with a new recording Undar Wurmar, an album sung entirely in language and due for release on September 24, 2026. Translating as “Are you listening?”, the album represents something Williams has considered for decades, but only recently felt ready to undertake. The project began almost spontaneously when he was offered a week of studio time, inspiring him to write a collection of songs in language. “I wrote the songs in a week,” he tells Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips. “I started on Monday and finished on Thursday.”
Although Williams had previously incorporated language into his music, including through his early work with Ted Egan, he says he wasn’t ready to make an entire album in language until now. “I always tell him that I wasn’t ready,” Williams says of people who had encouraged him to write in language. “But now I am.” He describes singing in his own language as something that makes him feel comfortable, while also allowing him to express subtle meanings that can be difficult to convey in English. “There’s little things that I can put in to make it another sentence just by adding in one little word,” he explains.
A major motivation behind the album is the preservation and celebration of language for younger generations. Williams believes children learn more easily when language is sung. “As soon as they hear the words, they just sing it,” he says. The album launch will feature schoolchildren, including members of his own family, performing alongside him.
Williams hopes young people from Ntaria (Hermannsburg), where he was born and raised, will come away from the record feeling proud of their identity and their home. “I would like the kids to be proud of where they come from and who they are,” he says. Ntaria remains central to Williams’ story, having shaped his childhood, family life and songwriting. He also recalls the strong musical culture of the community, which developed partly through the introduction of Western musical traditions and choir singing.
One of the album’s key songs, “Ntaria”, grew from Williams’ desire to create a language-based counterpart to Shane Nicholson’s song “Hermannsburg”. After discussing the idea with Kasey Chambers, Williams wrote the song and eventually brought Chambers and Nicholson into the recording. The collaboration reflects the close musical friendships that have been an important part of Williams’ career.
The album launch in Alice Springs on September 24 will be an especially significant occasion for Williams. He had originally considered staging the event in Hermannsburg but decided to take the music to a larger venue in Alice Springs. He will be joined by Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson, KYARNA, his family and the Ntaria Kids Choir, while the backing band is largely made up of local musicians and longtime friends.
Despite his decades of experience performing, Williams admits he is nervous about the launch. “I’m still nervous because I’m singing in front of my people. I’m singing in language,” he says. His concern is not about performing itself, but about making sure he is telling the stories correctly. The involvement and enthusiasm of the children, however, has reassured him.
While Undar Wurmar is deeply connected to Aboriginal language and culture, Williams is clear that he doesn’t see the album as an angry statement. Instead, he wants people across Australia and around the world to listen, appreciate and take pride in the country’s Indigenous languages. “I didn’t write it to be angry with anybody,” he says. “I wrote it for everyone to listen to.”
For Williams, the album is also an opportunity to challenge the idea that Indigenous languages are somehow separate from the broader Australian story. “This is Australian language,” he says. “I want to take my language out to the world.”
The album continues Williams’ long history of collaboration. Friends including Ian Moss, Ben Lee and Adam Thompson contribute vocals, with Williams encouraging each singer to bring their own character to the songs. “I told them to do those songs in their sort of way,” he says. “And they did it.”
Williams speaks particularly warmly about his relationship with John Williamson, who helped establish him as an artist. “I am Warren H Williams. John Williamson made me that person,” he says. Their friendship and musical partnership have been a defining part of his career, stretching back to Williams’ early appearances on the Australian country music scene.
Looking back over his career, Williams recalls performing with Williamson at the Country Music Awards as one of his proudest moments. “It was my proudest moment in the world,” he says of standing on that stage, describing the feeling as one of finally realising a dream, “This is where I’m supposed to be.”
Now Undar Wurmar represents another significant milestone. Williams hopes that decades from now people will understand that the album was created not to divide people, but to share something that belongs to Australia. “I want to take my language out to the world,” he says.
And he has no intention of stopping there. Asked whether he will continue recording in language, his response is unequivocal, “Oh yeah. I don’t know I could do anything else.”
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Warren H Williams Under Wermar (Are you listening?) Album launch
with very special guest appearances by Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson, KYARNA and the Williams Family.
Thursday 24 September @ 7pm
Araluen Arts Centre
Tickets: https://araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au/whats-on/warren-h-williams-undar-werma-are-you-listening