Mr Missy is the alias of Vancouver Island singer-songwriter Marc Robichaud, and on his newest album Looking For You, he seems to be looking for the history of 20th century (North) American folk music, exploring everything from blues to traditional country to Western swing. Looking For You is a concept album, perhaps even a rock opera, but don’t come here looking for the bombastic excesses of The Who. The music remains firmly planted in the sort of Americana typified by the likes of Dwight Yoakum or Tom Petty, but the album is intended to be digested as a whole. It tells the story of one individual, likely an everyman figure, on their path of self-discovery in search of love.
The album begins with a note of restlessness on the title track “Looking For You” with lines like “I’ve been everywhere. Problem is, everywhere’s the same.” But it’s actually a fairly strident, hard-hitting song, and this is not an album of self-pity. Even on the weary, beaten-down blues of “Drink to the Future” there’s an optimism as the narrator looks toward a better tomorrow. Spoiler alert: The album has a happy ending with the simple folk of “Next to You,” a beautifully sweet and understated love song.
Looking For You is a brilliantly constructed album that should be digested in one complete listen. However, it is built upon a collection of wonderful individual songs that work perfectly on their own, and each of those moments is better than the one before it.
