This Old Dog: The Album That Grows With You

     This Old Dog by Mac DeMarco. In comparison to the two albums DeMarco released prior, This Old Dog is overall less cluttered, and generally easier on his usual woozy guitar effects. But in order to understand the album itself, it’s important to take a look at DeMarco as an artist. To fans, he’s certainly a character, proven by some of his extracurricular gross-out antics, as well as his playful stage persona and mischievous smile. Although he seems to be a generally carefree guy who has his style figured out, he branches out with This Old Dog and produces music with more in-depth meanings and serves a more ‘classic’ sound than his previous albums. His music may sound chill and slightly goofy, and he certainly seems to live life off the cuff and at the moment, his music takes more of a timeless approach. Songs like ‘Baby You’re Out’ come together beautifully with its chord changes. DeMarco’s move to a more classic sound suits him well. On the first listen of This Old Dog, he seems to just kick back and let things fall into place, but once you take a deeper dive and listen closer, you can truly see the devotion DeMarco has to his craft. In his 3rd album, DeMarco not only played every instrument heard, but he also produced and engineered the entirety of this album. This is especially impressive on his longest track, ‘Moonlight on the River,’ filled with quite the gnarly freak out that serves as the coda to the piece. DeMarco’s approach to lyrics has always been one thing: simple. Songs like ‘My Old Man’ prove this with lines like “looks like im seeing more of my old man in me” are incredibly easy to understand and relate to, but his approach and delivery are truly what makes his songs land. Overall, DeMarco owns his sound, even if it is a little bit more refined than his first two albums. This album captures challenging ideas that a listener can easily identify and relate to, like the idea of aging and becoming more like your parents with ‘My Old Man.’ It’s an album you can relate to during any and every period of your life, making it truly worth a listen.