Just as Mac DeMarco’s consistent, electronic-indie sound was growing stale, the outlandish artist evolved his music, pushing it, once again, to the forefront of his genre. In addition to his always welcome somber songwriting, “This Old Dog” is more acoustic, more electronically tasteful and more cohesive, making the record a true indie force in 2017.
The record’s main theme of DeMarco’s relationship with his estranged father is made apparent in the first track, “My Old Man.” Musically, the evolution of the artist’s sound makes itself known as the track includes a crisp electronic drum kit and an acoustic guitar lick as DeMarco’s singing platform — as opposed to the synth-like voices he was partial to a few years prior on “Salad Days” and “Another One.”
“This Old Dog” continues to utilize acoustic and graceful electronic themes, but he also welcomes the concept of aging as a point of emphasis. Here, DeMarco highlights the intricacies of lost loves while backed by a soothing synth dragging listeners into his melancholy dream world during the chorus. “Baby You’re Out,” despite its wistful aesthetic, is an optimistic point in the album as the bouncy guitar and playful drumbeat usher DeMarco through his quest for contentment.
“For The First Time” is DeMarco’s obligatory electronic movement. It’s the fine-tuned, charming compositions like these that have boosted DeMarco to the forefront of his genre. Due to its strong reliance on synthesizers and electronics, the track stands out from the rest of the album, but its peculiar appropriateness and soothing nature makes it a very welcome addition.
The album’s focus is drawn away from his relationship with his father and is placed on coping with a failed relationship during “One Another” and “Still Beating.” DeMarco rides this wave of acoustic bliss and selective use of electronics through the album’s touching, brief intermission, “Sister.”
In “Dreams From Yesterday,” a bossa nova style piece with an acoustic bounce and synth lead in the chorus, DeMarco contemplates his increasing age and the changes we all experience throughout our lives. This song is in light contrast with the following track “A Wolf Who Wears Sheeps Clothes,” a faster track warning against blind trust and obedience.
“One More Love Song,” another tale of a failed relationship, has the same grim charm we heard on his previous works but with a more refined edge. In the chorus, the song features striking chords on the keys — another evolution in his sound.
“Moonlight On The River” finds a tense DeMarco struggling with the impending loss of his father. It features variants of what we’ve already heard in great acoustic and synth play. There is no greater display of the tension DeMarco feels than at the end of this track in which he lets it all go with distorted guitar echos. “Watching Him Fade Away,” is the saddening finale. With a simple, beautiful keyboard bounce to it, DeMarco shows us all the deep pain he feels in dealing with his dwindling relationship with his father where the song’s title rings hauntingly as the album concludes.
This project may not only be the most focused of his career, but due to his great attention to detail in furthering his sound and strengthening his compositions, it very well may be the strongest work he has released. It’s always great to see the concentrated evolution of an artist, and “This Old Dog” will likely be a necessary inclusion on listeners’ best-of-the-year lists.
Follow Jordan on Twitter: @montero_jor
