Ada Lea rewrites the rules of creation on when i paint my masterpiece, a quietly radical album shaped by stillness, intuition, and the raw beauty of process over perfection.
On when i paint my masterpiece, Ada Lea steps away from expectation and finds something richer in the stillness. Montreal’s Alexandra Levy offers sixteen songs carved from a pool of over 200, written over three years with care, curiosity, and a refusal to rush.
After years spent on tour, Levy returned to Montreal and re-centered her creative life. She studied painting and poetry, took a job, and began teaching songwriting. This new chapter didn’t abandon music, though, it reshaped her approach, grounding it in process and community.
Recorded in rural Ontario with her core band and producer Luke Temple, the album captures live performances with no digital grid or studio polish. It’s a warm, acoustic-driven collection that feels both rooted and free, allowing the human element to rise to the surface.
Songs like “midnight magic” and “snowglobe” evoke vivid inner worlds, while “there is only one thing on my mind” floats with the quiet, dreamlike motion of a Chagall figure. Levy draws from the surreal, from painters and poets, but she brings those influences into focus with her own voice and vision.
This isn’t music chasing perfection. It trusts the moment. The album’s title suggests anticipation, but the truth is already in front of us. The masterpiece isn’t a future event. It’s the act of making, the choice to stay present, and the courage to keep creating without a final destination in mind.