Today, singer-songwriter Andrea Ramolo shares “DUST”, the lead single from her forthcoming studio album Quarantine Dream. Listen here. Like all 10 songs on the new record, “DUST” was written in isolation during the pandemic. “DUST,” a piece of James Bond-ian noir seduction, delves into an intense, albeit brief, intimate encounter during the pandemic with a man whose darkness and struggles shed light on Andrea’s own, about fear, trust and judgement. “DUST is about the fine line between human connection and toxic attachment,” says Andrea. “It’s about our human longing and addictions… to things… to each other… and about the acceptance that we are truly mirrors for one another in this life. We all have our poison, which I believe must be embraced without judgement. And we all need love.”
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. “I knew on this record that I wanted to create moving visuals with dance which was my first love and my foray into music. It was wonderful to finally have the chance to be creative with my old-time friend Nikki Ormerod.” Nikki, a very successful photographer in Toronto, has made some beautiful short films and shot videos for Big Wreck’s Ian Thornley and poet/author Rupi Kaur for Jimmy Fallon. Andrea continues, “My song “DUST” naturally lived somewhere deep in her visionary mind and we created an elegantly gothic and gorgeous visual piece, which Nikki calls a short opera.”
What’s The Story about Andrea Ramolo?
Born in Toronto to Italian immigrants, Andrea Ramolo comes from a close famiglia with strong female role models, her mom (who beat cancer twice), and Nonnas who celebrated and encouraged hard work, strength, and perseverance. The triple-threat began her journey into the arts as a dancer and actor, until she ventured into music in 2008 with the release of her album, Thank You For The Ride, which she supported with close to 200 shows across Canada.
Her 2011 follow-up, The Shadows and the Cracks led to her first Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination. Andrea then partnered with her friend Cindy Doire to form Scarlett Jane and spent the next five years touring behind two folk albums for distributor Warner Music Canada, 2012’s Stranger and 2015’s eponymously-titled offering. Stranger earned them two more CFMA nominations.
Along the way, Andrea also contributed to projects by Tom Wilson’s Lee Harvey Osmond, where she met Cowboy Junkies’ Michael Timmins, who would go on to produce her next two solo albums, starting with the stellar NUDA (Italian for ‘naked’). The album emerged out of a deep depression following a romantic breakup with Tom and shifted her artistic path to something raw, dark, cool, understated and melancholy. Taking a break from lyrical catharsis, she then dove into an album honouring songs by Leonard Cohen, appropriately titled Homage, which earned her another CFMA nomination in 2020.
When the pandemic struck, first overseas. Italy declared a state of emergency and the world watched in horror as the death toll rapidly climbed. Heartbroken by what Andrea saw in her family’s homeland, where she has explored her heritage and built up a music following, Andrea wrote and released her first original Italian-language song, “Una Lettera,” to raise funds for the Red Cross’ Italy Covid-19 Response Appeal.
Photography: Jen Squires
