Montreal's Ada Lea — a.k.a Alexandra Levy — has announced her third LP when i paint my masterpiece, which arrives August 8 via Next Door Records.
Largely recorded live off the floor in rural Ontario in 2023, when i paint my masterpiece is described as "a kaleidoscopic exploration of the transformations art can bring: the vision of an uncompromising artist dancing bravely and freely between registers and across mediums."
The new LP also marks a reset in Levy's career — feeling an urgent need for community and renewal after years of touring, Levy found herself wondering, "Who am I really doing this for?" She envisioned a new, healthy and healing mode of musical genesis, outlining this process as "resting, extending my creative reach, going back to school, studying painting and poetry. Taking a step away from music as guided by industry expectations. Simplifying things. Getting a job, starting to teach. Engaging with the process rather than the product."
Levy also shared the LP's lead single "baby blue frigidaire mini fridge," a mid-tempo, lilting love song that was inspired by "the Chantal Akerman film where the camera moves in slow circular pans around her apartment."
Further elaborating on the track's inspiration, Levy continued: "Then what if the frame quickly zooms out as far as it could possibly go? And in that wide pull back, what we recognize as universal is still 'this chair, this window, this mountain view.' Then, move out again, even further. What we are left with — three things: 'our old time souls, this old time moon.' Two things, I mean."
Watch the music video for "baby blue frigidaire mini fridge" and check out the album's tracklist below.
when i paint my masterpiece:
- death phase of 2024 (rainlight)
- moon blossom
- baby blue frigidaire mini fridge
- something in the wind
- midnight magic
- it isn't enough
- snow globe
- everything under the sun
- just like in the museum
- bob dylan's 115th haircut
- diner
- there is only one thing on my mind
- dogs playing in the backyard
- down under the van horne overpass
- i want it all
- somebody is walking in the water