JUNO AWARD NOMINEE AND POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE SHORT-LISTER, BEGONIA’S THIRD FULL-LENGTH ALBUM, FANTASY LIFE, DUE OUT OCTOBER 24, 2025 VIA BIRTHDAY CAKE RECORDS
WATCH / SHARE “HOTTER THAN THE SUN” HERE
BUY / STREAM “HOTTER THAN THE SUN” HERE
PRE-SAVE FANTASY LIFE HERE
Photo Credit : Calvin Lee Joseph // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Begonia is your best friend. She’s the whimsical fairy on your shoulder making you feel all at once comfortable to be yourself while simultaneously making you think wtf is this fairy doing here and what is she wearing. With a voice that compels you to feel everything deeper, she sings like she’s calling you into her world. Sure, on the surface it may simply look like a world overtaken by flowers, colour and lightness but go deeper and it’s also a world that doesn’t shy away from the dark. It’s a world that invites you to be exactly who you are without shame.
Today, Begonia shares the new single and video, “Hotter Than The Sun”, from her upcoming album, Fantasy Life. “Do butterflies appreciate their own beauty? Does a moth know that the closer they get to the light could also mean potentially dying at the light's hand? Don’t ask me,” says Begonia. “I just know that sometimes I dream of just being an insect and flicking my wings around at will.
“I can honestly say with this record that I’m accepting myself now fully for the first time. I feel like I've said that before but this time I actually mean it. I’m not saying it’s easy but it’s far less exhausting then trying to fit in anyone else’s version of who I should be. I’ve always struggled with a very loud inner hater and I feel like making this song is attempting some kind of scruffy diy exorcism. I’ll let you know how I feel the more I sing it.”
WATCH / SHARE “HOTTER THAN THE SUN” HERE
BUY / STREAM “HOTTER THAN THE SUN” HERE
MORE ABOUT BEGONIA + FANTASY LIFE
The stage name of Winnipeg entertainer Alexa Dirks, Begonia has many stories to tell, many iterations of life to walk you through, and she takes her fans on the journey with a stumbling grace and an uncanny wit. A true sight to behold, sometimes clunky but always beautifully and refreshingly entertaining. Begonia crafts some of the most honest pop music out there. With her new record Fantasy Life, she's simply at the top of her game. There’s more risk, more complex vocals, more pop diva mania, more feeling, more truth, and more fantasy.
Fantasy Life is a collection of thirteen songs written under the heat of the sun in Los Angeles, California and then recorded during the dead of winter in Winnipeg. It’s about the mundane and the magical, the delusional and the hopeful, the thrilling and the crushing. It’s the promise of spring and then all the snow melts to reveal piles of glittering garbage. It’s watching bright balloons float away into the clouds. It’s a slimy fleshy worm feeding a beautiful garden.
A place to escape to but not to live forever.
“There’s a spirit of freedom to this record that was such a big part of the songwriting sessions I had in LA with deadmen (Matt Peters and Matt Schellenberg),” says Dirks. “I spent a little over a month in total with them writing this record every day and it’s the most RIGHT in songwriting sessions that I've ever felt. Everything felt so easy and fun and that has never happened to me quite like that before. This freedom allowed me to go to more complex places with my voice and in my lyrics than I have in the past. I feel like I’ve grown so much in my sound and my confidence in the last few years and I know that reflects in this record.”
WATCH / SHARE “SO HIGH” HERE
BUY / STREAM “SO HIGH” HERE
Begonia’s bold sound and style, combined with an intimate connection with her audience, invite you to feel everything more deeply, making you feel at once seen and a part of her world that is both brilliantly vibrant and unafraid of the shadows. It’s a space where you’re not just a listener, but a confidante, invited to feel everything more deeply and be exactly who you are, without shame.
Her longtime artistic collaboration with music producers deadmen is a central part of her career. The duo has produced, played, and written on nearly all of Begonia’s releases, and they provide her a crucial space to be vulnerable and take risks. The collaboration is anchored by an impenetrable emotional and creative connection.
Begonia launched her solo career in 2017 with the EP Lady in Mind, featuring the #1 CBC Radio single "Juniper". Her critically acclaimed full-length albums Fear (2019) and Powder Blue (2023) have earned her two JUNO Award nominations and two Polaris Music Prize nominations. Recognized by NPR as an ‘Artist You Need to Know’, Begonia is celebrated by her core fans for her powerful live performances, which Noisey describes as “obliterating the misery from this world one live performance at a time." Her captivating stage presence has opened doors for her to perform at clubs, theatres, and festivals globally, connecting with audiences worldwide.
PERFORMANCE DATES
Oct 1 - Burlington, ON - The Royal Botanical Gardens
Oct 3 - Creemore, ON - Avening Community Hall
FANTASY LIFE TRACKLIST
01 In My Lifetime Pt. 1
02 In My Lifetime Pt. 2
03 So High
04 Hotter Than The Sun
05 Morning (By Your Side)
06 Deep Red Cherry Night
07 Out Of My Control
08 Conditional Love
09 PLB
10 Kingsford Avenue
11 Flying
12 My Fantasy Life
13 Life Of The Party