Guitar
Like the so-called slackers of early-’90s alt-rock (Beck, Pavement, etc.), Mac DeMarco’s sleight of hand is to make beautiful music without apparently trying—a chiller so chill he doesn’t write songs so much as wait for them to come snuggle up in his lap. *Guitar* is his most quietly striking album since the landmark *Salad Days*, stripping the slimy synth textures and bubbling drum machines out of his early sound to reveal sparse, paper-thin soft rock whose eerie melodies and gently jazzy chord progressions have more in common with ’40s-era pop like The Ink Spots and The Platters than anything from the underground (“Sweeter,” “Nightmare”). “Miracle, reveal yourself to me,” he sings at the beginning of “Holy,” channeling the meditative stillness of a John Lennon demo or early-’70s Al Green. It might sound wimpy at first. Then you realize a sound so naked and dry leaves him nowhere to hide. That’s strength.
On his first non-instrumental album since 2019, the 35-year-old songwriter keeps it real simple. These endearing and affecting songs look at the wreckage of his past and imagine a sweeter future.
Mac DeMarco's penned words have never been as self-conscious and reflective as they are on Guitar.
On 'Guitar,' Mac DeMarco strips his sound down to its barest elements, but the minimalist approach doesn’t quite play to his strengths.
Laufey’s gorgeous, romantic third album feels like a brilliant throwback, while Mac DeMarco’s low-fi release is slight, if unremarkable
On his latest album, Guitar, newfound peace finds Mac DeMarco at his most content and focused in years.
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Think of Mac DeMarco and you tend to think of the frat boy antics beloved of his live shows, the kind of hi-jinks that make Jackass look like a pre-school
Mac DeMarco’s ‘Guitar’ is composed of mood pieces that feel tenderly reflective but too often stagnant.
Guitar by Mac DeMarco album review by David Saxum for Northern Transmissions. The artist's new LP drops on August 22nd via Mac's Record Label