“The content comes with a slight change in sound: Gone is the rinky-dink, pealing electric guitar tone that colored his early records, replaced with an acoustic instrument, recorded as if he’s in the room with you. There’s also prolific use of a CR-78 drum machine set to cruise, the steady motorik rhythms pushing him toward a more reflective space. He sounds comfortable, lived-in.”
“…and the crowd embrace DeMarco’s ramshackle corniness, waving actual lighters along to the Careless Whisper-ish One More Love Song and going wild to Freaking Out the Neighborhood in a way that no crowd has gone wild to a song sounding like Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing since 1987…”
“…Mac DeMarco is just turning 27, but his new album, This Old Dog, seems to represent a more mature persona than he’s projected in the past…”
“…His latest album, This Old Dog, is spare and soft and personal, and it’s open about his rocky relationship with his largely absentee father. He’ll tell you the LP was a creative risk, but one he felt comfortable taking if only because his fan base is along for the ride…”
“…they confirm that a truly great song exists outside of time and trend. But parallels between DeMarco and Taylor extend beyond their sound: they’ve both been known as boyish wild men who are fond of the bottle, and whose unpredictable, spastic personalities are at odds with the mellow, emotive songs they write.”
“…Because Mac DeMarco, or at least the legendary version of him that exists in his fans’ minds, transcends both time and space…”
“Due to the universal relatability of “being alive,” This Old Dog tells a simple, though spellbinding, story of some of life’s guarantees: family (in all its various forms), home, love and impending death.”
“…both in terms of sound and subject matter, the album finds DeMarco beginning to venture beyond the music he built his carefree indie bro reputation on. And it may be an antidote for his goofball exploits if, like me, you often find that stuff obscuring his formidable songwriting talent.”
“As an anti-star who, at his heart, would likely be happy playing in a Midwest basement for beer money, DeMarco possesses innately strong songwriting abilities, endearing him to bedroom lo-fi purists and besandled Parrotheads alike.”
“Mac DeMarco had a little pre-celebratory birthday and record release bash over the weekend, serving up some hot dogs and new tunes from This Old Dog.”
“Moms will be moms, but there’s something deeper to her understanding of Mac’s ambling tracks, and the sadness that’s often muddled beneath all that smeared reverb.”
“DeMarco has a different style this time around, but what isn’t different is the classic, laid-back feel that fans have come to love.”
“For someone who appears to be professionally irreverent, he [Mac] is painfully self-aware of his precise coordinates along this generally strange journey.”
“…yet amid the partying, the lewd behaviour, the wonky and sometimes raunchy sense of humour, Mac DeMarco’s image has kind of gotten away from him.”
“As a kind of pied piper for the blog crowd, Mr. DeMarco, with his trademark gaptoothed smile and disarming baby blues….but on-the-ground, grass-roots outreach via nonstop touring and direct human connection.”
Mac DeMarco joins Loud and Quiet’s Midnight Chats Podcast – Episode 25
Mac Demarco lives in a paradox of chillness. While his music is celebrated for its slacker romanticism, his own schedule is packed with writing, touring, and all the other trappings of a musician’s lifestyle. He follows a path that is just as much weary as it is youthfully blissful. Yet Mac has a humble knack for making it all seem so easy. At home, signing autographs in his Echo Park bungalow, he dispatches wisdom on cigarettes, sandwiches, and Michael Jackson.
“…in between impossibly gorgeous, slowed-down renditions of ‘2’ favourite ‘Annie’ and more recent track ‘Without Me’ – both of which prove that, without any bells and whistles, the singer’s got a crooner’s pair of pipes that could melt the stoniest of hearts”
“…Mac DeMarco is the latest guest to eat spicy chicken wings and get interviewed for First We Feast’s series ‘Hot Ones’…”
“…A gorgeous amble of father-son ponderings, delivered in that slightly flat, patient Demarco tone. I played this five times in a row…”
Pitchfork features Mac DeMarco’s This Old Dog on Best New Track video
“…’Maybe sometimes my love may be put on hold,’ he sings over the late-night drip of guitar swells…”
“…DeMarco’s subtle wail and refusal to bow to an apathy conceived in heartbreak are sources of strength.”
“Actually, I’ve never had a dog in my life. I’ve had a lot of cats, and “This Old Cat” doesn’t really ring the same way.”
“The burnished acoustic pop of ‘This Old Dog,’ the title track (and one of two new songs including ‘My Old Man’) from Mac’s upcoming LP, is in line with his continued worries about getting longer in the teeth.”
Lo-fi rocker unveils first two songs, “My Old Man” and “This Old Dog,” from first full-length album since 2014’s “Salad Days”
DeMarco shares new tracks “My Old Man” and “This Old Dog.
“…There’s no word yet on what DeMarco’s new album’s called or when to expect it, but presumably it’s coming sometime relatively soon…”
