DEMARCO, MAC
ANOTHER ONE (CAPTURED TRACKS)
Like the days of Steely Dan, Harry Nilsson or Prince releasing a classic album every year (or less) comes Mac DeMarco's Another One, a Mini-LP announced about one year after the release date of the meteorically successful Salad Days.
Conceived and recorded entirely by Mac himself between a relentless tour schedule at his new place in Far Rockaway, Queens, Mac discovered that one can actually exist in relative isolation despite technically still living in New York City.
During his downtime, Mac wrote and recorded Another One: an eight track release that expands the arsenal of Mac's already impressive catalog.
The albums first single, "A Heart Like Hers," centers around a pump-organ riff and lilting vocal melody that is somehow both haunting and warm.
It's a track that shows the maturity of Mac's progression as songwriter: a little bit more refined, a little bit more sophisticated, but nonetheless still retains the guts and soul of any classic Mac track.
Opener "The Way You'd Love Her" has a playful swing to the chords and a guitar solo that wouldn't be out of place on a midperiod ead LP, Mac's newly favored listening pasttime.
The overall feeling of the LP is lost love, or perhaps love never found, a topic that the world never tires of and one Mac can move through without it being a dour and somber experience.
Title track "Another One" and stand out "Without Me" exhibit this bittersweet sensibility in lyrical and musical context, both melancholic and romantic, blurring the line between happy or sad nostalgia.
The record leaves you with the same satisfaction as an old Bogart movie: he's still the hero, but he doesn't quite get the girl.
It's odd that despite working at the same pace as artists like Creedence, The Byrds and The Rolling Stones, coupled with an equally unending schedule of touring, press and recording, Mac is still labeled as a slacker.
With two fulllengths and two EPs released and hundreds of sold out shows performed in the last several years, a recent late night television debut on Conan following a special guest performance on The Eric Andre Show, it seems, as Mac DeMarco nears his 25th birthday, there's not a slack bone in the man's body,.
Great singer/songwriters don't need to reinvent themselves; they just need to keep going and let the songs out in the world, here's Another One.