WATCH AND SHARE “THE LIGHT” HERE
“PURCHASE / STREAM “THE LIGHT” HERE
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES WITH ROYAL CANOE BEGIN TODAY
“...searing and dignified” - NPR Music
“The woman has, you would say, presence to spare. When she opens her mouth to sing it's like, ‘What just happened?’” - Exclaim!
"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
“With her showstopping voice, Dirks blends acoustics and synths for her own
brand of gospel.” - CBC Music
Today, Begonia (aka Alexa Dirks) reveals the charmingly haunting video for “The Light”. Directed by Emma Higgins, Dirks says “she felt the emotion and saw my vision for the song right away.” The visual of Begonia singing in a store window surrounded by little dolls wearing white frilly dresses is one that Dirks says “encompassed the pure, ultra feminine ideals that women are told to take on from a very young age, juxtaposed with me, a woman that does not fit into those stereotypes, sticking out and singing amongst them.” Dirks and Higgins then took that idea a step further, making Begonia “the ‘creepy mother of the dolls’ going out for a night on the town with my pure, frilly, little, babies in tow.”
WATCH AND SHARE “THE LIGHT” HERE
On the surface Dirks says “The Light”, is about “feeling like I’m over the casual dating and party culture that dominated my early 20s. In a deeper sense, it’s about growing up and coming to terms with what that growth and transition means to me as a woman. It also questions the expectations that are put upon women in general and how exhausting it can be to try and live up to them. We are told in many ways by many people to be some Hollywood version of gentle, to be more beautiful, to be soft but not too soft, to change our bodies but to be happy with the way they are, to be agreeable, to make ourselves desirable to the opposite sex and ultimately not to take up too much space while doing it. It’s all very confusing and frankly impossible to keep up with. I want to defy those ‘rules’ and I want to encourage others to do the same. I want to inspire women / people in general to take up as much space as they want while feeling empowered enough to be whoever they are in this very moment.”
“PURCHASE / STREAM “THE LIGHT” HERE
Begonia’s Alexa Dirks has never been able to fit into the box of being a "conventional woman". “I’m loud, I’m awkward and I’ve always taken up space. I've done things my whole life that some people would tell me weren't appropriate 'for a girl'.” That narrative that once tore Dirks down is now what empowers her to take charge of her own story, in her own way.
Co-produced by Dirks with Marcus Paquin (Stars, The National), Matt Schellenberg (Royal Canoe), and Matt Peters (Royal Canoe), “The Light” is available to stream on all platforms. This week Begonia takes to the road with a full run of tour dates throughout Canada and the West Coast with Royal Canoe. Full tour dates can be found below.
Winnipeg-based Dirks is a JUNO Award winner with her former group, Chic Gamine. As Begonia, Dirks is bold, brazen with her florid, surprising pop that is tempered with sensitivity and wisdom. Dirks' first solo output, Lady in Mind, was listed on NPR’s 10 Artists You Need To Know in 2017 and “Juniper” reached #1 on the CBC Music 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 claimed that Begonia is “the place where where synth-pop meets old soul and scrappy meets sexy."
Photo Credit : Leeor Wild // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
BEGONIA ON TOUR W/ ROYAL CANOE
Sep 12 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Hi Hat
Sep 14 - San Francisco, CA @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall
Sep 16 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Sep 17 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Sep 18 - Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
Sep 20 - Calgary, AB @ Hi Fi Club
Sep 21 - Edmonton, AB @ Temple
Sep 22 - Saskatoon, SK @ Emmanuel Baptist Church
Sep 30 - New York, NY @ Rough Trade
Oct 3 - Ottawa, ON @ 27 Club
Oct 4 - Toronto, ON @ Baby G
Oct 5 - Toronto, ON @ Baby G
Oct 6 - Montreal, QC @ Bar L
“The Light” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES