When a Bulgarian refugee (Krassy Halatchev) first fell in artistic love with Montreal songbird (Laurie Gordon) it was a real life “green card” moment. They met in the post-collapse of the iron curtain era and have been making beautiful music together ever since. As the dynamic duo that is CHIWAWA, they have just released their sixth album “Watermark”, through their vanity label, Satellite Records Canada. It is a retro-fresh work that echoes Krassy’s rock/techno/new-wave influences as well as Laurie’s Motown/funk/disco sensibility combined with her classical training. The result is a polished, mature yet catchy and playful album that speaks of their love, of their art and of their common path. The band is a true collaboration with each singing lead for about half the songs. Musically, Krassy mans the bass and guitar work while Laurie does piano, keyboards, percussion... The album gets off to a swirling lyrical start with Runaway Train - a moving ode to the swell of emotion that carries you in it’s slipstream towards your bliss. Its driving beat hurries you along the journey - a hypnosis. It is followed by a quietly anthemic techno march called Chasing The Clouds. A futuristic, moody and melodic splash of reality-check: “We are blinded by shiny things... we try to dive back into the dream... we just may see the real is surreal” – it is hauntingly poetic. The featured singles are Calma Calma and Don’t Twist My Mind. The former is a smooth euro-pop/world beat offering with an impossible to not sing-along to hook that resonates long after the chorus has faded away. A chant or mantra to keeping one’s head. The latter is an old-fashioned bluesy funk plea to come along for the ride, to do what it takes to keep it together going down the road. The harmonics of the vocals are mirroring the message. Just keep it going - great open-road with the top down cruising music. The entire album is chock full of vivid imagery and musical artistry and catchy beats. From the neo British invasion (The Beatles meet Blur) to the enigmatic force of Cinderella (Talking Heads meet Nina Hagan, while having tea with The B52’s in the Love Shack), this album has a little bit of a lot and is a true culmination of CHIWAWA’s unified vision and singular goal.