Mac DeMarco’s third album, ‘This Old Dog’, is reflective and meditative. The LP opener, My Old Man, speaks introspectively about how maturity has spontaneously found him in his mid 20s. Simple guitar chords play out on repeat as Mac proclaims: “Uh-oh, looks like I'm seeing more of my old man in me.”
Mac has written about his father, who has long standing issues with drugs and alcohol, before. “There’s a price tag hanging off of having all that fun,” are the lyrics prior to the chorus and a sense of transformation is shared intimately with us here.
His technique is engaging and compassionate, and this often happy-go-lucky lyricist inspires protective feelings in his audience. ‘This Old Dog’ plays out like a manifesto to self, detailing realisations and acceptance in the present tense.
There is an optimistic sense of self-discovery that distinguishes this record from previous works. ‘Another One’, the ‘mini LP’ DeMarco released in 2015, feels formative to the creation of ‘This Old Dog’. Levelling with his audience in a conversational tone, Mac’s style has come to resemble an open letter, stripped of bravado or self preservation.
This is his therapy and on this album he fully realises his poetic abilities, apologising for his shortcomings while aspiring to become a better man and musician. Despite the tracks’ understated style and Mac’s scruffy presentation of self and sound, a profound insight underpins his lyrics.
Here is a musician who does not need elaborate production techniques, egotism or more than this one man on the mic. Ambling along, the LP progresses like a chat between pals who are taking a stroll to nowhere. Among its musings on the whys, wheres and hows of everyday life, personal matters of the heart are laid bare. Still Beating discusses a lost love: “Honey, my heart still beats for you even though you don't feel it beating.”
Mac is refining his vibe to be entirely representative of who is he and the way he would like the world to be: subtle and atmospheric, relaxed and content. ‘This Old Dog’ represents his character emphatically. It’s a perfect blend of happy coincidence, while he is a hot mess.
Moonlight On the River, the album’s penultimate song, is Mac as his finest. It’s a gentle journey through time and space set to the sweet sounds of a good guy who exists on the periphery. Suddenly interrupted by a splendidly calamitous interlude, it feels like an afternoon spent in a messy bed, or a moonlit river surrounded by crushed beer cans. Mac is a treasure.
Mac Demarco Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue May 30 2017 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Wed May 31 2017 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Tue August 29 2017 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 Academy Newcastle
Wed August 30 2017 - EDINBURGH Usher Hall
Mon November 20 2017 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Tue November 21 2017 - LIVERPOOL O2 Academy Liverpool
Wed November 22 2017 - DUBLIN Vicar Street
Fri November 24 2017 - GLASGOW Barrowland
Sat November 25 2017 - MANCHESTER Academy
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