WATCH AND SHARE “HEAVEN” HERE
BUY / STREAM “HEAVEN” HERE
2022 TOUR DATES BEGIN MARCH 2, 2022 - MORE DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED
Photo Credit : Calvin Lee Joseph // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today, Begonia (Alexa Dirks) is announcing her long-awaited upcoming tour dates for 2022 and is also sharing the new single “Heaven”, a track that finds beauty in the unknown. “When I was a kid I thought I knew a lot about everything,” says Dirks. “I was taught to believe that there was always a right or wrong and beyond that, that there was a heaven and hell waiting for us after we die and we just had to live our lives accordingly to end up in either place. I had a lot of fear of screwing up and a lot of fear of the unknown. As I've grown, all of those binary ways of thinking have more or less been shattered. I've come to understand that I'll always be searching and that there's a lot of beauty to that. I still think about what happens after we die but I feel more curious about it than I feel afraid or certain of it. I think this song speaks to that doubt and curiosity: thoughts I used to struggle with but now fully embrace”
“Heaven” arrives complete with a video from director Gwen Truntau and videographer Mike Maryniuk. “We filmed the video in rural Manitoba on the same property where we wrote the song years earlier,” Dirks continues. “I had asked Gwen to meet with me to talk about video ideas and I had mentioned that I wanted to be in the back of a truck. She said ‘why don't we make the back of the truck your bedroom?’ and then we just kept riffing from there. The property we filmed on had so much space to work with and sweet animals to film. I truly hope there are regal donkeys and fluffy chickens in the afterlife.
We filmed in the midst of changing covid restrictions about a year ago, working with a wonderful small crew to make it happen. Mike shot it and Gwen directed. They are partners in real life and my real life partner Seth Woodyard also worked on this with us to build the set pieces. So it was kind of like a giant fucked up double date, haha. We basically just tried to embrace the trance-like dreaminess that the song invokes.”
WATCH AND SHARE “HEAVEN” HERE
BUY / STREAM “HEAVEN” HERE
“Heaven” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
MORE ABOUT BEGONIA
As Begonia, Alexa Dirks is bold, brazen with her florid, surprising pop that is tempered with sensitivity and wisdom. In her music, Begonia leans hard into a sense of arrival. Whether it’s learning to come into her own or processing a brutal heartbreak, Dirks’ intimate lyrics and audacious sound allows for her audience to relate to the messiness of life with an honesty that is refreshing.
Her debut LP, Fear, was nominated for a JUNO Award for Adult Alternative Album Of The Year and was longlisted for The Polaris Music Prize. It was one of Exclaim!’s Most Underrated Albums of the Year, made end of the year lists from CBC Music and Dominionated, and saw both “Beats” and “Hanging On A Line” named as CBC Music Top 20 Fan Favourites of the year. Fear also spent 10 straight weeks as the #1 album in Canada on Earshot’s Top 50 chart.
Fear was written and co-produced with a familiar team of Matt Schellenberg (Royal Canoe) and Matt Peters (Royal Canoe) along with Marcus Paquin (The National, Arcade Fire, Local Natives).
Dirks' first solo EP, Lady in Mind, was well-received, being listed on NPR’s 10 Artists You Need To Know in 2017 and single “Juniper” reached #1 on the CBC Radio 2 Top 20. Noisey wrote that, “Begonia has one of Canada’s most extraordinary voices, and thankfully she uses it to obliterate the misery from this world one live performance at a time.” NPR wrote that Begonia is “the place where synth-pop meets old soul and scrappy meets sexy."
WATCH AND SHARE “FEAR” HERE
PRAISE FOR FEAR
“With its twin-helix bind of sharp pop and warm soul, Fear positions Winnipeg's Begonia (Alexa Dirks) as a powerhouse on the Prairies.” - Exclaim!
“Fear is the opposite of all its name implies: confident, bold, and blossoming with subtlety and intelligence.” - Dominionated
“...Fear still manages to make you feel like you've been let in on pop's best-kept secret. But, not for long. 2019 might have refreshed our memory of Dirks' vast capabilities, but 2020 will hopefully deliver her the global recognition she deserves.” - CBC Music
“...searing and dignified” - NPR Music
"...a complex, powerhouse synth-soul that hangs on one of Canada’s most
extraordinary voices." - Line Of Best Fit
"an audacious adventure in modern soul, with gospel inspirations and updated takes on finger-snapping Motown pop and late 20th-century R&B." - Globe & Mail
WATCH CBC’S FIRST PLAY LIVE HERE
BUY / STREAM FEAR HERE
2022 TOUR DATES
Mar 2 - Fargo, ND @ The Hall at Fargo Brewing Co
Mar 3 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Mar 6 - Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s
Mar 10 - New York, NY @ Elsewhere Zone One
Mar 11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
Mar 12 - Washington, DC @ Pie Shop
Mar 14 - Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr
Mar 15 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
Mar 20 - Hot Springs, AR @ Valley of the Vapors Festival