Artist: Mac DeMarco
Album: Another One
Release Date: August 7, 2015
Label: Captured Tracks
Short and sweet is Mac Demarco’s Another One.
Recorded in his New York apartment, you feel at home with melodic songwriting and romantic forget-me-nots. The eight-song “mini-LP” owns the typical joyful quirkiness of it’s predecessors, but with a dash of darkness.
“The Way You’d Love Her” picks up right where Salad Days left off; lackadaisical hooks and the youthful attitude of DeMarco’s signature songwriting style dominate the record. That being said, Another One definitely is similar, but one thing that separates itself apart is the use of drowning arcade-like keyboards that contribute a haunting tone to the mini-LP. “trying so hard to believe in something that will never be” as Mac moans an emptiness of existence on the title track, “Another One”. Backed by a steady bass line, calming vocals, and a somber touch of keyboard dances through the song, creating a gloominess not always so common to the DeMarco discography.
With some added melodic fuel, the Canadian-native drops life into the slower tracks. Cooing vocals and loose guitar makes even the dingiest DeMarco song seem clean and refreshing. “A Heart Like Hers” owns a nostalgic feeling that is both honest and free as simplistic guitar leads tip-toe around a wooing synthesizer. “Without Me” has the same appeal as each song seems to bounce along gently. The jaded lyrics of past and present lend a helping-hand to the matter as they intertwine the listener, allowing you to relate to the struggle of life’s many concerns.
Since the Another One is so brief, honing in under just 24 minutes, you quickly grasp a feel for the songs. The album ends almost perfectly as murky sounds of slushing water on, “My House by the Water” concluding an offer from DeMarco with an address to his apartment with an invitation for a cup a coffee.