I often listen to the same album on repeat when I’m engaged in intense writing sessions – the rhythmic familiarity seems to provide the perfect level of inspiring-but-not-too-distracting background noise. The album I’ve listened to the most over the past couple of years, and that I always recommend to others, is my fellow Winnipegger, Begonia’s, Fear, which she released in 2019. It’s one of those albums that sinks into your skin and becomes a part of you, and you know you’ll listen to it forever; you can catch me singing along to “Put It Away” and the title track in the shower at least once a week. “Mirror Talk” and “Dead Flowers” are also favourites. But the whole album, start to finish, is perfect – “No skips,” as a friend of mine would say. And as it relates to and inspires my writing, I feel that the stories I’d most like to tell would exist in the same world as the songs on this album; one of loud expression and quiet touch. Of anger, fear, awareness, hope. She synthesises so much of the modern experience into these beautiful, beautiful pieces, which is something I think all artists aspire to do. And Alexa is one of those writers and performers who embodies her art wholly and completely – if you ever have the chance to catch her live, do! She has a new album coming out soon, as well, which promises to be just as stunning.
Chelsea Peters is a writer and editor living on Treaty 1 territory. She is a recent graduate of the MFA program at UBC's School of Creative Writing. Her writing has appeared in CV2 and The Fiddlehead.
Read Chelsea Peters' story "Mudlark" in Issue 295 (Spring 2023)
