After gaining commercial success, Mac DeMarco has been able to experiment more both lyrically and instrumentally. Normally, I am all for experiments by musicians in order for them to grow as humans and artists. However, Mac DeMarco’s expansion into synth-driven, sad-boy lyrics has me missing the poor, Viceroy smoking Canadian.
In his 2017 album This Old Dog, DeMarco loses almost all of the charm he had. To me, the entire appeal of his music was the Smiths-esque guitar work. Prior to his 2015 album Another One, DeMarco used guitar licks and simplistic lyrics to convey his feelings. Many of his songs were jokes or were about his girlfriend before his last two albums.
I definitely believe in growth in artists. In DeMarco’s case, I don’t believe his progression has been growth, but rather stagnation.
The DeMarco I miss is the young, silly Mac whose first album on a major label, Rock and Roll NIght Club, had skits of him changing his voice to become radio DJs. Everything I know of Mac makes me take him less seriously, and his two newer albums have lost the charm of childishness.
DeMarco still covers Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” with just the words “making my way downtown,” over and over again, but his antics just aren’t as fun as they used to be. In an acoustic version of “Cooking Up Something Good,” he finishes the song by saying it was about his father’s methamphetamine habit. As he grew as an artist, his popularity limited his freedom to be wild. Perhaps his growth is through maturity, but maturity is not what the average DeMarco fan is looking for. I miss the DeMarco who smoked cigarettes through the gap in his front teeth and lived in New York City illegally.
His new album, reflecting on love and growing up without his father, are completely valid. An artist is more than allowed to reflect on their own life in their art. However, DeMarco’s lyrics on This Old Dog seem forced. His narrative on his childhood is not new, but he has never been serious about it.
Perhaps it is because I was a sophomore in high school when I had my Mac DeMarco phase, but I miss how Mac had a soft rock style while still being indie’s class clown. My personal preference for DeMarco is the one who used to have wild stage antics while covering U2 songs. I definitely believe artists should be allowed to grow and mature in their music and behavior, but to me, DeMarco’s charm was the dialogue his music had with his stage persona. As his music slowed and blurred into droning, synthesizer filled sludge, DeMarco lost everything that once made him interesting to me.
Shelby Campbell is a freshman studying journalism and political science at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. How do you feel about Mac DeMarco? Let Shelby know by tweeting her @bloodbuzzohioan.
