The instrumentation of this piece is inspired by my love affair with Bulgarian Folklore rhythms but played on my Little Martin guitar, like a harp. I have developed my own style of finger-picking to interpret the odd-meters, in this case mostly a 13/16. The vocal melodies are tenderly ornamented and delivered in an intimate style, like a prayer. The story is one of reaching beyond the feeling of fracture in relationship, and passing through into the inevitable wholeness of surrender. My parts (voice/guitar) were recorded in an old silk-worm factory... a beautiful stone-floor, high-ceiling, luminous music studio, in the Cevennes mountains in the South of France. The percussion element came later, through meeting a wonderful Australian musician, Tunji Beier, on a festival stage. Tunji here plays the Kanjira - a South Indian frame drum - with both subtlety and spirit.

Riuwaka (Riwaka) is the name of a water resurgence at the foot of Takaka Hill, in Te Wai Pounamu (South Island of Aotearoa/New Zealand). Many come to drink the healing waters distilled by the quartz mountain labyrinth above. The song was written in this location and inspired by the purifying qualities of the resurgence, both physically and spiritually.

Check out the music video -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk1nplOe00Q