Mac DeMarco’s latest album, Guitar, has received some backlash since its release in August. I’ve seen discourse online calling it repetitive, monotonous, or bland. The people who say these things are missing the context behind the album.
In an interview with “Monster Children” on YouTube, Mac discusses how the album was made in a very short timespan. He said that he made another record in about a month and a half, which he eventually scrapped. He then wrote and recorded Guitar in about two weeks.
But DeMarco doesn’t just rush an album out for the sake of having another record in his catalogue. He is looking for a specific sound on the album: minimal, elegant and meditative.
In the same interview, DeMarco discusses recording song demos that he really likes, but finding that something is missing in the more fleshed-out recordings.
“I get this thing, I call it ‘demo-itis’, where you fall in love with the demo or there’s some component of the demo that has the joie de vivre in it, and then you’re trying to recreate that,” DeMarco says.
This explains the ethos of Guitar’s production. Almost every song has an acoustic guitar strumming at a similar rhythm. Accompanying the guitars are some very fundamental drum beats, similar to ones you can find on his recent instrumental albums. The basslines are simple, but their tones punch through just enough to be an interesting component of their own. And of course, there’s the clean electric guitar on songs like “Knockin” or “Rock And Roll” which embellishes and highlights DeMarco’s vocals.
Mac’s vocals really come into their own on this album. While earlier Mac records such as 2 and Salad Days have a very youthful, somewhat rough-around-the-edges vocal quality, Guitar sees Mac embrace his falsetto voice, and it sounds great. It pairs well with the rest of the album’s production. I also find a lot of the songs to be very catchy.
But to me, the most defining feature of the album is Mac’s lyrics. Never have they been more candid, raw and insightful. They give us a look at what DeMarco is feeling, what he’s going through in his relationships, and how he’s matured.
Songs like “Home,” “Nothing At All” and “Phantom” have phenomenally simple but effective lyrics about his pains and struggles. I particularly like “Home” and how he talks about his relationship with, well, his home. There are themes of reluctance, falling out with friends and the loss of familiarity with the place you grew up.
Track six, “Rock And Roll,” is probably my favorite song. The electric guitar melody is unbelievably catchy over the beautifully voiced acoustic guitar chords, and the vocal melody ebbs and flows in a way that I can’t really describe, but love.
All in all, while I think some songs are a little more interesting or catchy than others, I truly don’t believe there’s a bad song on the album. Every track has its quirks and features hidden beneath the repetitive guitar strums and unpretentious drumming. If you listened to his instrumental albums, you definitely would’ve seen something like “Guitar” coming.