Andrea Superstein shares a cover of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So”
Andrea Superstein is one of the most versatile voices in Canadian music today. Adding savvy vocals to whatever she touches, from nu-jazz and downtempo electronica to Latin grooves, Andrea lures listeners in with killer improvisational instincts, exceptional storytelling, and a red-hot band. Her music exemplifies powerful vocals evoking the gentle and the strong, the light and the dark, deep blues to pop confection, often in the same song.
In jazz, it’s common practice to reimagine existing songs. Andrea’s inspiration to arrange this particular song was a desire to focus on the present. She chose to cover Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” to pay homage to a song that was part of the soundtrack of her younger days. It’s a song that many people from her generation know and love, which is why it was the perfect choice for her to revisit from a fresh perspective and different instrumentation.
This single will be followed by a full-length album later this year, Oh Mother, of mostly original songs. It chronicles stories of motherhood rooted in Andrea’s own experiences and those of over 50 mothers who so bravely shared their stories.
“I really enjoy the challenge of taking a song that’s meaningful to me and finding a new way to interpret it while still honouring the original,” says Andrea. “I love that a listener might not recognize the song at first. I love that a less adventurous listener might say, ‘Hey, maybe this kind of jazz is worth checking out.’ Weezer is the gateway drug to jazz!”
Listen to “Say It Ain’t So” below and learn more about Andrea via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name’s Andrea Superstein, but most people call me Super. I’m a jazz-leaning vocalist with an East Coast heart and a West Coast vibe.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Say It Ain’t So is a reimagined modern, nujazz arrangement of Weezer’s classic hit. We released it on January 25th, 2023.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
In general, I write about things that are meaningful to me or things that I wonder about. My upcoming album Oh Mother is rooted in the stories of motherhood. It started out as an exploration of my own experiences, and then my curiosity grew to hear about other people’s stories, so I wrote about those too.
For songs that I re-arrange, like “Say It Ain’t So,” it mainly comes from a healthy obsession. This was an absolute ANTHEM for me. I would play it on repeat and belt it out over and over. I wanted to bring new life to it with different instrumentation and a new genre. An homage.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
YES, and I’m so pumped. March 17-19 I’m at the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, Buckingjam Palace in Calgary, and Geomatic Attic in Lethbridge. Then the NAC on April 20th, and after that, Jazzahead in Germany! More shows in the Spring, but we’ll save that for another time.
What’s your goal for 2023?
I’m looking forward to releasing my full-length album Oh Mother later in 2023 and continuing to tour and play for real live humans – my absolute favourite thing to do. And maybe add a few more pairs of glasses to my collection.