The impetus behind Amy Millan's first solo album in 16 years, I Went to Find You, was a moment of serendipity. Performing at 2023's Dream Serenade — an annual benefit concert at Toronto's Massey Hall founded by Hayden Desser and his wife to celebrate children with developmental or physical disabilities and their caregivers — provided the Stars and Broken Social Scene vocalist the opportunity to sing with BlackBerry composer Jay McCarrol.
Suddenly, Millan was transported back in time; something about the way their voices blended together was an uncanny reminder of the memory of singing with her father — who died in a car accident just before her fifth birthday — when she was a child. It's the type of déjà vu that catches you completely off-guard and feels weighty with significance.
"I so clearly remember being a kid and putting on my pyjamas and being so excited for nighttime, because that's when my dad and I would sing together," Millan reflected. "Ever since then I've tried to make my life an arrow back to that feeling, but I didn't fully understand that until now."
Whatever the meaning of being pulled back like this was, the path that shot forward was immediately clear: co-writing an album with McCarrol. "I wanted to make an album for your nervous system," Millan explained of the inner child-healing collection of "gentle songs for difficult times," which envelops the listener in airy synths and feathery guitar flourishes.
Listen to I Went to Find You — out now via Last Gang Records — on your streaming platform of choice below; you never know who you may find in its tranquil contours.