An album is a sum of parts, one that makes it to your speakers long after a series of writing sessions, torn pages, experiments at the piano, flubbed vocal takes, and studio hijinks have somehow boiled down to one finished product.

In a new documentary called A Seat at the Table, Beginning Stages, Solange gives us a glimpse into exactly this: the process that shaped the phrases and flourishes of her extraordinary new record.

If behind-the-scenes stuff is your thing, watch the 11-minute film immediately. Snippets from the studio make their way into the clip, with Solange cutting the vocals for various tracks in different locations and working out ideas and inspirations. Julez, her son, makes an appearance (and delivers some sweet dance moves in the process), as do a number of the collaborators who left their mark on A Seat At The Table, like Sampha, Kwes, Sean Nicolas Savage, and more.

"This video is broken up into 3 different parts," Solange said of Beginning Stages in a statement. "The first and second parts happened in Long Island and New Orleans where I first started to jam and collaborate on ideas with the incredible artists and musicians featured (as well as some other incredible artist and musicians who are not shown here). ... When I look back at the beginning stages, I remember the powerful energy that set the tone, and that I'm so grateful followed us everywhere during the creation of this record."