The merging of Two Macs: “This Old Dog” is on Captured Tracks

by Rose Blanton

Every year May is full of things to look forward to: the end of school, Memorial Day weekend, Cinco De Mayo (if that’s your thing) but this May we were also graced with the third full length album from Mac Demarco, This Old Dog. The album was first written when Mac and his girlfriend shared a place with some housemates in the neighborhood Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York. Demarco made a decision to move to Silver Lake in Los Angeles (this has been a pattern for many Brooklyn/Queens musicians). Upon arrival he realized he didn’t truly dig the demos he had recorded back on the East Coast. He did a revamp of the album once in LA, letting the new neighborhood shape his creativity. While many journalists are calling This Old Dog his “unplugged” record because many of the songs were written on an acoustic guitar, this record has been dipped and coated in synth. The best way to describe this record may be the merging of two Macs. One tracks like “On The Level” or “Dreams From Yesterday” or “One More Love Song” – we get the “Salad Days” Mac, the pepperoni playboy, if you will. While on the title track or “One Another” we get the poppy Mac from “2” or “Rock n Roll Nightclub”.

Another difference between this record and the last is that Mac does get more personal with his lyrics, which is something he has notoriously avoided in his lyrics and interviews. He sings about the fear of becoming his absentee alcoholic father in “My Old Man”. He reminisces on fights he’s had with his sweet Kiki on tracks tilted “Still Beating”. He croons the lyrics “Honey I’ve cried too/ you better believe it!” The maturity of the lyrics aligns well with the Mac we’ve seen developing in front of us in the last three years.

Jizz Jazz studios is still coming in strong with the hits and Mac Demarco is still doing what he does best, writing avant-garde pop songs. And although Demarco has been maturing (the man bought a house for Christ’s sake) he still has his youthful rebellion surging out of him. At Coachella he let the crowd know that album had leaked (almost a full month before it’s debut) and he told everyone in the crowd he didn’t give a shit, just download it, and listen to it. A true testament that Mac does what he does because he loves its. Demarco is currently on an extensive American/ European tour and is even hitting some festivals. Be sure to catch him and pick up his album via Captured Tracks – that is, if you haven’t already downloaded it.