25-year-old slacker-rock prince and proclaimed “Pepperoni Playboy” Mac DeMarco has done it again. Originally from Canada, DeMarco made his first prominent step onto the scene right out of high school under the moniker Makeout Videotape and was joined by a full band shortly after. A few years later, DeMarco returned to producing music under his own name, releasing his first solo EP Rock and Roll Night Club in 2012. Now, three years and multiple successful releases and tours later (including a sold-out show at Eugene’s Cozmic Pizza this past April), DeMarco has released his newest mini-LP Another One.
Mac DeMarco and his band play a sold-out show at Cozmic Pizza on April 21, 2015 (Meerah Powell/Emerald)
Another One is filled with the soundscapes and instrumentation with which DeMarco fans are well-situated: incredibly smooth, reverb-ridden vocals, wavy guitars, warped synths, playful bass and spry drums that all seem to have a timeless quality to them. The eight tracks on this bittersweet release touch on both the positive and negative elements that lay within love and relationships. Although known for his wacky onstage antics, such as regularly covering Coldplay’s “Yellow” with his band and getting naked and putting drumsticks where drumsticks should not go, as well as his fairly eccentric, yet lovable personality, Another One, much like DeMarco’s other releases, is not just filled with fun and games.
DeMarco drinks a beer and lounges on stage at Cozmic. (Meerah Powell/Emerald)
Packed tight with the right amount of serious, somber, reflective tunes like the album’s title track, in which DeMarco croons over layers of echoing, melancholy synthesizer about jealousy and insecurity, “Feelin’ so confused, you don’t know what to do, afraid she might not love you anymore.” The mini-LP stays cleverly balanced by including sunny, bubbly tracks like “No Other Heart” and “Just To Put Me Down.”
Overall, Another One sticks to DeMarco’s so far infallible style of writing songs poppy enough to sound like they could be accepted as present-day No. 1 hits, yet antiquated and nostalgic enough to sound like they could easily have been kept under wraps within a dingy, teenage-filled garage in the late ’70s. While definitely keeping DeMarco’s older material in mind, it’s more matured and cleanly edited and produced than earlier releases.
There’s just something indescribable about DeMarco’s music that seems to resonate with people of all ages, be it the sense of carefree “good vibes” or the sense of sentimental agelessness. Whatever it is it will make you want to grab your sweetheart, go for a ride and lay under the stars with DeMarco’s vocals roaring as a soundtrack to the night.
Only about 25 minutes from beginning to end, Another One is definitely short, but also sweet. The album glides to an end with “My House By The Water,” an instrumental song composed only of the windy, lapping of lake water and simple synthesizer, with a distorted tone similar to a messed-up VHS or cassette tape seconds away from unraveling. The song fades to a false ending with a few seconds of silence only to surprise listeners with DeMarco’s voice clearly and loudly reading out his current New York address. “Stop on by. I’ll make you a cup of coffee. See you later,” DeMarco exclaims.
After listening to this release you just might be feeling like you want to take him up on that offer.
Listen to Mac DeMarco’s “Another One” available now on Spotify.