Andrea Ramolo Live in Concert

Singer-songwriter Andrea Ramolo is the first to admit that she creates music out of chaos and often misery. If that is a dark statement, it’s also one she laughs about because it all works out in the end. This time, once again, it has lent itself to the creation of her stunning new seventh studio album, Quarantine Dream

Her past six studio albums — four solo and two with the duo Scarlett Jane — have been borne out of heartbreak, but Quarantine Dream, made almost entirely with women, is different: it’s about a breakup with our lives as we knew it when COVID-19 hit in early 2020. 

From the escape of “Italian Summer” that she created to transport her into other imaginary and more hopeful circumstances, to the protest song “Free,” feat. Kinnie Starr, about sexism, sexual violence, racism, and the lie that is ‘freedom,’ to the title-track about her wish for the state of the world, Andrea also tackled more personal issues, such as being childless in “Morning Glory” and wanting to disappear in “Carousel.”

The first single, “Dust,” a piece of James Bond-ian noir seduction, is about an intense, albeit brief, intimate encounter during the pandemic with a man whose darkness and struggles shed light on her own, about fear, trust and judgement.  The video, directed by Nikki Ormerod, features Andrea dancing alongside The National Ballet of Canada’s choreographer and performer Jera Wolfe, and a live snake.

“It's unreal. It tells of this connection through a contemporary dance piece choreographed by Shawn Bracke. My favourite creative project to date besides making this album,” Andrea says.

The other important cornerstone of Quarantine Dream is all the women she worked with from writing to recording to the visuals.  The 10-song statement was produced mixed and engineered by Sarah MacDougall (who plays on it too), mastered by Elisa Pangsaeng, and includes co-writes with Kinnie Starr and Hill Kourkoutis (“Free”) and Madison Violet’s Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac (“End of Time”), guest vocals by Kinnie and Madison Violet, and piano by Kathryn Calder of The New Pornographers (“Morning Glory” and “Lose Me”).