Mac DeMarco – This Old Dog CD PROMO
Much of the pre-release hype surrounding This Old Dog has painted it as an introspective, borderline melancholy album in which DeMarco tells us about his family and personal life, most notably his absent, alcoholic, abusive father. It’s certainly that, but what stands out is both the way he tells his story--with a realistic mix of hope and fatalism--and the music he chooses to soundtrack it. The album consists almost entirely of acoustic guitar, synthesizer, and drum machine, DeMarco’s singing consistently gruff. The warbling, off-kilter synthesizer notes on the off beat of “My Old Man” effectively complement his sudden realization: “Uh-oh/oh no, looks like I'm seeing more of my old man in me.”
What’s just as important to DeMarco, though, and what connects This Old Dog to his previous albums, is his relationship to his longtime girlfriend, Kiera McNally. On the title track, which directly follows “Old Man”, he reveals that he is the titular creature, the ultimate symbol of stubborn loyalty, resulting in the most affecting tribute yet to McNally. He sings about missing her on the woozy “For The First Time” and about overcoming rocky periods on “Still Beating”.
Overall, his level of empathy on This Old Dog truly makes it stand out among his catalog. “Baby You’re Out” is possibly a celebration of his mother Agnes DeMarco escape from her relationship with her ex-husband. (“You've always felt it's hard to voice complaints / But what you voice is what will drive your fate.”) On “One Another”, he’s trying to reassure a broken up friend. And “Sister”, the softest, shortest song on the album, is stunning and concise. “Turns out not every dog has his day / So sad, so suddenly gone away / Wish there were more that I could do / Any time you're hearing this / Sister, know my heart goes out to you.” Those are the only words; they’re ones of support.
DeMarco also still finds ways to push himself musically even within the lo-fi confines of the album. “Dreams From Yesterday” features prominent drum machine and atonal synths, somehow making a bossa nova beat tolerable, his voice adopting a higher register. The musical outlier on the album is “Wolf Who Wears Sheeps Clothes”, as it features drums, harmonica, and electric guitar. The 7-minute “Moonlight on the River” is perhaps the album’s instrumental standout. It’s slow-burning but not plodding, eventually giving way to arpeggio electric guitars and processed horn sounds, the noisiest moment on a characteristically laid-back DeMarco album.
What breaks your heart about This Old Dog are the darker moments, ones at some points just the normal ups and downs of life and at others immensely personal for DeMarco. “Don't let the world outside the windowpane get to your head / Hopefully you make some sense of all this shit before you're dead,” DeMarco coldly sings on “Wolf”. On “Moonlight”, he waxes possibly about his dad, ambiguously nonetheless: “I'm home, with moonlight on the river, saying my goodbyes / I'm home, there's moonlight on the river, everybody dies.” The most simple is “One More Love Song”. Over piano and with a higher register, DeMarco simplifies it. “Is one more love out to break your heart / Set it up just to watch it fall apart.”
This Old Dog culminates with the ultimate tear-jerker: “Watching Him Fade Away”. Over minimal synthesizers, we see a present-day DeMarco looking back but also evaluating the present. Does he want to confront his father and face the pain of past memories and watching him fade? Or should he just let it go? We’ve never seen the old dog side of DeMarco before, but self-analysis isn’t a new trick. He’s simply revealed another great layer that makes up the whole.
Label: Captured Tracks
Country: US
Media Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)
Sleeve Condition: Near Mint (NM or M-)