In Begonia’s latest music video for her single “Hotter Than the Sun”, she’s wearing a big pink wig with yellow highlights and whimsical butterfly wings at the back of her dress. This stunning imagery doesn’t just hint at the artist’s upcoming album identity, but it also functions as a metaphor for where she’s at creatively. 

After the success of her sophomore record, Powder Blue, which earned a JUNO nomination and was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, she’s looking forward to sharing her most confident body of work yet with Fantasy Life.

“There’s something about this record that feels very nostalgic, very escapist, but also very now and very like me,” Begonia says. “I feel like I’ve grown so much in my confidence in the last five years. I’m not as self-conscious as I used to be in terms of what I want to write and what I want to say. I don’t feel like I’m looking over my own shoulder as much as I used to. ”

Fantasy Life is releasing on October 24, and according to the Winnipeg singer-songwriter, the album features a blend of pop sensibility, playfulness, and introspection. She wrote the record in Los Angeles alongside her long-time collaborators deadmen, a duo formed by Matt Peters and Matt Schellenberg. Leaving her hometown to head to deadmen’s new LA studio space made her step out of her comfort zone.

“I was kind of alone out there, sleeping in a rented room by myself, and I hadn’t really done that in a long time because I live with someone at home, I tour with a crew, and I have a band. I’m never really alone, so that was also something that was kind of special about it,” she says. 

These moments of solitude allowed her thoughts and feelings to sink in and pour out through her music. Her singles “So High” and “Hotter Than the Sun” showcase Begonia’s angelic vocals, thoughtful lyricism, and her personal flair. At this stage in her life, she’s let go of things that don’t serve her anymore and she is no longer giving into the pressures of being a woman in the industry. 

“I feel like I’m just laying it all out, and that is very much what this album feels like,” she says. “There’s intimate moments, there’s sparkling moments, there’s dark moments, and there’s just light pop moments. I just wanted to showcase the different emotional palette within those two songs that were released.”

In advance of her album launch, Begonia is preparing to play a concert this weekend at the Polaris Festival, an event that is part of the Music Concert Series section of the Water/Fall Festival. As a Polaris alumna, the artist couldn’t be more thrilled to be included in the festival’s lineup. “Polaris has been such a champion of what I do for years,” she says. “So getting to play a free show too that feels really accessible is very fun.”

She’s also playing a few other Ontario shows and hosting a Fantasy Life listening party on October 4 at Division 88, where she’s ready to answer fan questions about her new album. “I really want people in Toronto to come out because we’re going to be previewing the album together, selling merch, and just kind of hanging out and celebrating,” Begonia says. 

Begonia will perform at the Toronto Music Garden on Sunday, September 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to her listening party are available online through her website.