With Begonia's 2023 album Powder Blue, the artist born Alexa Dirks has a Polaris Prize contender on her hands. To celebrate the record's accolade, she's just shared an EP reimagining its track "Marigold" in four new versions, and mapped out a tour of Western Canada.
The Marigold EP comes with reworks from deadmen, SUN SUN and MA BWE, as well as an extended mix and the album version. "'Marigold' is basically a short story about my teenage life," Dirks said of the track. "A passing reflection that has confirmed for me that all the questions and uncertainties I had as a kid, have value."
She continued:
I think It's the shortest song I've ever written yet it always felt like such a big song to me. Sharing parts of myself that I haven't really shared in my music before...mainly the relationship I have to my queerness and my loss of religion. I think subconsciously part of me kept it so short because I was a little afraid of it. Once the album was mastered I had a panic and felt like I had to send a mass email to any person that knew me before like 'to whom it may concern, I am not straight and I don't believe in the same God anymore. We good?' Haha, I can't fully describe it but it was like I had a fear of being 'exposed' or people questioning me or being disappointed in me. I don't love that I felt that way but it's the truth.
A song ALWAYS takes on a new meaning to me once we play it live and so we started playing it on tour and all my fears melted away. I watched people singing…and sometimes screaming… the lyrics back to me every night and it lit up something in my brain and my heart honestly. The more I sang it the more I felt like I could say more, I wanted to say more. That I feel so lucky be accepted and loved by all of you special people and that the takeaway is more like...puberty is fucked, life can be fucked but in spite of it all flowers keep growing and so do we.
After her performances at the Polaris Gala on September 19, the artist will take a maybe-victory lap around Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, beginning with a "fake Vegas residency" in her hometown of Winnipeg. The Canadian run also includes dates in Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon. From there, she'll head to Europe and the UK to support Leith Ross on tour there.
See the schedule below, where you can also hear all the new versions of "Marigold."
Begonia 2023 Tour Dates:
09/22 Winnipeg, MB - Club Regent Casino
09/23 Winnipeg, MB - Club Regent Casino
10/10 Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room
10/11 Calgary, AB - The Grand
10/12 Regina, SK - The Artesian
10/15 Saskatoon, SK - Broadway Theatre
10/28 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown ^
10/29 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso THT ^
10/30 Brussels, Belgim - AB Club ^
11/01 Birmingham, UK - Institute 2 ^
11/03 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar St. ^
11/05 Manchester, UK - New Century ^
11/06 Glasgow, UK - St. Lukes ^
11/07 Edinburgh, UK - Summerhall ^
11/14 Berlin, Germany - Berghain Kantine ^
11/15 Hamburg, Germany - Nachtwache ^
11/16 Cologne, Germany - Arttheatre ^
11/19 London, UK - KOKO ^
^ supporting Leith Ross
The Marigold EP comes with reworks from deadmen, SUN SUN and MA BWE, as well as an extended mix and the album version. "'Marigold' is basically a short story about my teenage life," Dirks said of the track. "A passing reflection that has confirmed for me that all the questions and uncertainties I had as a kid, have value."
She continued:
I think It's the shortest song I've ever written yet it always felt like such a big song to me. Sharing parts of myself that I haven't really shared in my music before...mainly the relationship I have to my queerness and my loss of religion. I think subconsciously part of me kept it so short because I was a little afraid of it. Once the album was mastered I had a panic and felt like I had to send a mass email to any person that knew me before like 'to whom it may concern, I am not straight and I don't believe in the same God anymore. We good?' Haha, I can't fully describe it but it was like I had a fear of being 'exposed' or people questioning me or being disappointed in me. I don't love that I felt that way but it's the truth.
A song ALWAYS takes on a new meaning to me once we play it live and so we started playing it on tour and all my fears melted away. I watched people singing…and sometimes screaming… the lyrics back to me every night and it lit up something in my brain and my heart honestly. The more I sang it the more I felt like I could say more, I wanted to say more. That I feel so lucky be accepted and loved by all of you special people and that the takeaway is more like...puberty is fucked, life can be fucked but in spite of it all flowers keep growing and so do we.
After her performances at the Polaris Gala on September 19, the artist will take a maybe-victory lap around Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, beginning with a "fake Vegas residency" in her hometown of Winnipeg. The Canadian run also includes dates in Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon. From there, she'll head to Europe and the UK to support Leith Ross on tour there.
See the schedule below, where you can also hear all the new versions of "Marigold."
Begonia 2023 Tour Dates:
09/22 Winnipeg, MB - Club Regent Casino
09/23 Winnipeg, MB - Club Regent Casino
10/10 Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room
10/11 Calgary, AB - The Grand
10/12 Regina, SK - The Artesian
10/15 Saskatoon, SK - Broadway Theatre
10/28 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotown ^
10/29 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso THT ^
10/30 Brussels, Belgim - AB Club ^
11/01 Birmingham, UK - Institute 2 ^
11/03 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar St. ^
11/05 Manchester, UK - New Century ^
11/06 Glasgow, UK - St. Lukes ^
11/07 Edinburgh, UK - Summerhall ^
11/14 Berlin, Germany - Berghain Kantine ^
11/15 Hamburg, Germany - Nachtwache ^
11/16 Cologne, Germany - Arttheatre ^
11/19 London, UK - KOKO ^
^ supporting Leith Ross