A week after the release of her new album, A Seat at the Table, Solange Knowles has released an 11-minute mini-doc on the making of the project: Beginning Stages – A Look Into Solange’s Songwriting Process & Jam Sessions That Shaped ASATT. In the film, fans get to see the singer working out the songs on the emotionally gripping album in a small house she moved into in Louisiana, as well as sessions that took place in Long Island and New Orleans.
“I’m really excited to share with you a little film that documents the early stages of my songwriting, jam sessions, and collaborations of #aseatatthetable,” she wrote on Facebook about the film that dips into and out of sessions that took place dating back to 2013. “3 years ago, I moved into a small house in the middle sugar cane field in New Iberia, La with just my engineers @mixedbyblue and @audio_nino to finish all of the lyrics as well as structure and produce the jam sessions that have now become the songs on the album.”
The behind-the-scenes project even contains some music that didn’t end up making the album, as well as glimpses of the singer working out ones that did, including “Mad,” “Don’t Touch My Hair,” “Don’t You Wait” and “Where Do We Go.” Hopscotching from scenes of Solange lounging on a couch working out vocals to hitting a proper studio in New Orleans, it gives a sense of the day-and-night work that went into crafting and refining the songs with an eclectic group of musicians. A number of those collaborators make cameos in the doc, from her always supportive son Julez to Sampha, Kwes, Sean Nicholas Savage, Kindness and Patrick Wimberly of Chairlift.