Singled Out: Andy Curran's Lookin' For Love

Keavin Wiggins | 08-07-2024

Coney Hatch and Envy of None (Rush's Alex Lifeson) star Andy Curran celebrated the 30th anniversary of his solo album "Whiskey and the Devil" with an expanded reissue and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the single "Lookin' For Love". Here is the story:

I'm excited to share the story behind the re-release of my single "Lookin' For Love" as part of celebrating the 30th anniversary of my solo album. While revisiting the idea of re-releasing the album, I connected with a fantastic, artist-friendly company called SING, who gave me full creative freedom to move forward. During a planning call, SING's CEO Geoff Osler mentioned that it would be great to have a new track alongside the original album. That's when I remembered a demo of "Lookin' For Love" I had, which was intended for the album but never fully recorded.

Geoff encouraged me to move forward with it, so I reached out to Simon Brierley and Glenn Milchem, who were part of the band in 1992. They were enthusiastic about revisiting the project, and we added Sean Kelly on guitar to recreate that iconic Thin Lizzy dual guitar sound.

I also contacted my friend, Gil Moore, drummer and vocalist of Triumph, and recorded at his studio, Metalworks, where we originally tracked the album. To achieve a modern, punchy sound, I enlisted my long-time buddy and Juno Award-winning engineer, Vic Florencia, to handle the engineering and mixing. I really wanted that four on the floor no nonsense , in your face style of rock and I think we nailed it.

The lyrics for "Lookin' For Love" were inspired by NOW Magazine's personal ads section, which was like a 90s version of Tinder. Given how relevant this theme is today, I decided to fully embrace it.

People are "still" trying to find their soul mates and thats what this song is all about.

When SING proposed a video, I wasn't keen on a traditional performance video until one of my hockey buddies showed me some cool Lego-style videos his son Luke Russell was working on. This led to a fun and unique teaser video, although it's still unfinished because I didn't want to distract Luke from finishing high school , especially during exams!

Additionally, while revisiting my solo record, I discovered two songs, "Walk The Other Way" and "One Woman Man," that were recorded but never included in the original release. These tracks will now be part of the reissue. Producing the album was a significant learning experience for me, and winning a Juno Award that year was the cherry on top. The album was only released in Canada, so I'm thrilled to finally share it with a wider audience.

I'm also considering doing some live shows to complete the project and wrap a bow around it all. I'm genuinely grateful that people still care about this music.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here