Picture this, an artist releases a new album after taking four years off. You are excited to sit down and listen to new music, hoping to hear familiarity and nostalgia – songs that remind you of different parts of your life, even if you have never heard them before. You’re thrilled to hear the voice of this artist. You remember how smooth the vocals on their other albums, and you want to see how they sound after becoming four years older. You open your favorite music streaming service (hopefully Spotify), look up the album, press play and the artist counts in the song. An acoustic guitar is strummed and a bass follows suit, and there it is. The style you craved is back, but you continue listening. No vocals on the first song, the second or the third. As a matter of fact, there are not any vocals on the album at all.
Well, for fans of Canadian singer-song writer Mac Demarco, you do not have to imagine it anymore. DeMarco, known for songs such as “My Type of Woman” and “Still Beating” recently released his fifth studio album “Five Easy Hot Dogs.” The album contains 14 different tracks adding up to a run time of about 35 minutes. Each track is named after the city the DeMarco recorded them in. More than once in the album, we see that two songs were recorded in the same place leading to titles such as “Vancouver,” “Vancouver 2” and “Vancouver 3.”
Even with no vocals, it is undeniable that this is a Mac DeMarco album. His psychedelic sound of digital sounds layered over real instruments creates a sound that he has trademarked through most of his discography. DeMarco is particularly good at keeping each of the tracks simple yet complex. While listening, I was never shaken up or made uncomfortable by a quick change in the style or sound. However, I did find myself asking, “What instrument is that?” or noticing that initial bass line even after so much had been layered on to it.
One song that truly stuck out to me was the twelfth track on the album titled “Chicago.” There is no lead up to the song. It does not start quietly or slowly and work into the eventual melody like one would expect. Rather, it starts the same way it goes for the whole two-and-a-half-minute duration. It is much like the rest of the songs on the track: a bass line, guitar, hi-hat drums and synthesizer. After listening for a few seconds, however, you notice a rattling noise. After several listens, I quickly noticed that this rattle was like that of those little frog instruments many may know. The instrument is a wooden frog with a ribbed back, another stick of wood sits in its mouth, and when the stick is dragged across the back, a rattle is made that resembles a frog croaking. I cannot say for certain if this is the instrument DeMarco used to create this sound, but I can say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was placed in both “Chicago” and “Chicago 2.”
We as consumers have become desensitized to purely instrumental music. With the rise in popularity of lo-fi music and artists, it is no longer seen as experimental to release an album like “Five Easy Hot Dogs.” This desensitization, however, does not make this album any less special. DeMarco is not a lo-fi artist. He does not release album after album of instrumental music. He is an artist known for his instrumental melodies as well as his voice.
This album was new for Mac DeMarco, and he took a risk. His fans could have been extremely upset, and I am sure some were. However, this album is excellent. It allows the listener to feel comforted by familiarity, while still being pleased with something new. It can make a walk across campus feel more cinematic purely by putting a soundtrack behind your daily life.
I would recommend this album to fans of DeMarco as well as people who have never listened to him. It is perfect for casual listening, putting on as background noise in your dorm or even using it to block out noise in the LC (Learning Commons). What “Five Easy Hot Dogs” lacks in vocals, it makes up for in charismatic and distinct sound.
