Cree Métis Singer-Songwriter Sandra Sutter Unveils New Single for “Just Like the Moon”
Sandra Sutter is an award-winning Cree-Métis singer-songwriter and poet based in Calgary, whose music is rooted in oral traditions and shaped by contemporary sounds, honouring ancestral wisdom while embracing modern expression. Her latest single, “Just Like the Moon,” which will appear on her third album Shadow Stories, is a moody and melodic blend of jazz and rock that explores cycles of solitude, self-discovery, and renewal.
Inspired by the ebb and flow of nature, and the moon’s pull on the body and spirit, “Just Like the Moon” uses the moon’s cycles as a metaphor for personal transformation. As Sutter explains, the night before recording the song as part of a songwriting residency at MacEwan University’s Bent River Records, she found herself in a university dorm room, filled with anxiety and uncertainty about the songs she had prepared. Born from self-doubt and lunar musings, “Just Like the Moon” emerged, replacing both songs she had originally planned.
“In the end, what I thought was anxiety was actually a doorway, and walking through it led me to one of my most joyful studio sessions,” Sutter says. “The next day, I walked into the studio filled with excitement and enthusiasm. That’s what the moon can do for us.”
Sutter reflects on how the moon’s pull mirrors the emotional cycles we all experience, particularly women.
“We all move through phases, and sometimes we need to retreat before we rise,” Sutter shares. “Women are especially attuned to the moon as life givers whose cycles mirror its phases, just like the blood within us. Just as ocean tides respond to the moon’s magnetic force, we too are aligned with nature. The moon, with all its mystery and power, reminded me of the cycles we go through – quiet times, low periods, and the inevitable return to fullness. It showed me that magic happens when we let the mystery inside us out, while welcoming the mystery of nature in.”
Like much of Shadow Stories, “Just Like the Moon” showcases Sandra Sutter’s gift for transforming personal experiences into something universally resonant. Building on the foundation laid by her acclaimed 2018 debut, Cluster Stars, which opened conversations around truth and reconciliation, Sutter continues to bridge worlds through music, drawing from a myriad of genres – folk, rock, and jazz, to name a few – and her Indigenous culture to remind us that we’re all part of something larger, cyclical, and deeply human.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Thank you so much for this opportunity! My name is Sandra Sutter, and I’m a Calgary-based recording artist. I’m a small-town girl at heart, with rose-coloured glasses and a deep love for the way that music connects all to one another, and to big ideas.
“Just Like the Moon” is such a deeply introspective and poetic piece. Can you take us back to that moment of uncertainty the night before recording—what was going through your mind, and how did the song come to you?
Oh, thank you for taking me back to that anxiety-filled but magical night!! I’d been hanging out with songwriters all week, and doing some writing, mostly on the piano, but hadn’t landed on any tunes that I thought were finished enough to take to the studio. I had a couple of tunes I’d written before that were my backup plan, and I’d rehearsed them several times that week – they were fine then until the night before I was set to record. They just weren’t sitting right, and I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I would be wasting everyone’s time going into the studio with them. I had my keyboard, my guitar, and a notebook on the dormitory bed, and I looked out at the night sky outside of my window on that hot summer evening. The moon was so beautiful. I thought about many of the ways people think about the moon, and how we’re always trying to figure out its mysteries, how the tides respond to its push and pull. I picked up my guitar and strummed a few chords. Making fun of myself, I sang out the first line – “Sitting here in my room, and I don’t know what to do” – which is exactly what I was feeling, and the song just came!
Shadow Stories is your third album, and it weaves together social themes, natural imagery, and personal reflection. What was the emotional journey like in creating this body of work?
This was a really difficult album emotionally. I understand intellectually, and in my heart, that the difficult parts of life, and of ourselves, are all part of a beautiful whole – a great big puzzle with many pieces if you will. I am not very comfortable being vulnerable, sharing my own pain, like many, if not most of us. I was chatting with a friend a couple of years ago, who told me that she was finally able to embrace her own fragility and step through it, when I shared a deeply personal story about mine. Thinking about that conversation pushed me into an uncomfortable space musically, and an important one. As an artist, I have an opportunity to wrap my own journey up in ideas that are bigger than me, and express those that come through to me in my music. It was important in Shadow Stories to do that respectfully, gently, with hope, humour, playfulness, and that dreaded vulnerability.
The album is also a tribute to the late Vince Fontaine and Jim Peace, who were deeply connected to your earlier projects. How did their spirit and influence shape the making of this record?
Oh gosh, I miss those two. Vince always pushed me musically, and he also always encouraged me to be at my best when I went into the studio. I was very conscious of that work ethic and the preparation required mentally. I had to get out of my head and into my heart, without him this time. It was also important to both of us to include some of the ways that we had been taught, which I believe translate into songs that include and account for other humans, their journeys, and deep respect and care for nature. I hope that carries through in the way I’ve approached this album.
Jim was a guy who just loved to play music. Anytime, anywhere, Jim was ready to play. He was generous with his time and talents, and he was up for any music project you put in front of him. Jim was a jazz player in Toronto, moved out west, and became an Alberta cowboy who played bluegrass and country. I learned a lot from him, and he introduced me to a lot of music that was new to me. Jim’s self-produced original projects were really unique. I was so excited for them to work together on Shadow Stories, and devastated that we couldn’t make that happen.
What I had hoped we would create together was an accessible mix of different styles of music that carried the dreams of my past and our collective futures into the hearts of our listeners. They were a big part of all of this album, always there somehow.
What do you hope listeners feel or reflect on after hearing “Just Like the Moon”?
I hope listeners feel a bit more connected not only to the moon, the stars, and the night sky but also to one another. We can feel so isolated in this busy world of ours. That’s a lonely feeling and a scary place to be. And it’s not the truth. We’re always connected. We see the same moon. She always comes back around, and we do too, when we relax into ourselves. We’re all part of that big, beautiful mystery.
What’s next for you – musically or spiritually – as you continue to evolve through your work and advocacy?
What a great question!! Spiritually, I hope that I continue to learn and to have opportunities to express how I see the world through music. I hope I have the honour to continue to spend time with the Elders that I love, and who have so much knowledge and wisdom. Musically, we’ll be sharing the new music in our shows, and we look forward to adding our friends who are jazz players into the mix at many of them! There are a couple of other projects in development as well. I’m so lucky and blessed to get to show up in the world in this way. Thank you so much for these great questions and for the way you and Canadian Beats show up in our world.