Mac DeMarco's new album is a short collection of instrumentals that were sporadically created by himself on a three month long cross country road trip. Five Easy Hot Dogs is sleepy, breezy and pleasant to listen to but sounds equally as long winded as the trip itself.
Goofball, prankster, and lovable personality Mac DeMarco has gained quite the closely knit fanbase and community over the past decade or so. Not only is the Canadian singer songwriter's music itself warm and inviting just like his attitude but is often silly and bouncy just like his personality. The chilled out vintage synthesizers, drum machines, bass, and relaxed guitar tones clearly define Mac DeMarco's sound and what seems to be a whole micro genre to come out of it. 2017's This Old Dog found exactly what I thought was missing in his previous music which was more of a clear purpose, thought, growth, and a satisfyingly complete body of work. It is mature too. It's not simply just a goofy or ridiculous album to gawk at or make jokes out of, rather a seriously great collection of finished pop songs and well rounded songwriting. Two years later came Here Comes the Cowboy, a record that I still can't quite understand its appeal to this day. Its murky, slowed down pace slogged and hunched without a care in the world. The songs seemed mostly forgettable and half baked despite some genuinely beautiful moments like "Nobody." The contrast in between these two albums was astonishing to me, where I believed DeMarco was really making some progress into making really profound work rather than really slowing down to make some uninspired stuff. I really had no idea where Mac would go next.
The past four years has been a surprisingly quiet affair for Mac without much new music until now. Mac's just released his new album, titled Five Easy Hot Dogs. It's a short collection of instrumentals that were sporadically created by himself on a three month long cross country road trip. Each song is named after the location it was created in and the overall sound should be entirely familiar to even the casual fan: warm synths, quirky guitars, soft percussion at a chilled out, ultra relaxed rate. Despite this album being nearly four years apart from his last project, I do hear similarities between the two. Both seem to be created in the moment and at a low stakes, low key level, where there is not a worry in the world. These sleepy, breezy instrumentals seem like they soundtrack a road trip to nowhere. They are certainly pretty on the ears and are pleasant to listen to.
As pleasant as these instrumentals are, I'm not going to kid myself by saying this is a profound, deep, or enveloping experience from Mac DeMarco. It's purely background music for those who may want to doze off or to lay in your beach chair or to stare longingly out the car window. These songs are so non distinct from one another, where they all seem to meld into one sound. Even at first listen, it is difficult to separate the songs from each other and point out any specifics on what makes a particular track stand out from the others. That's typically what I tend to do in reviews but when you have a record like this that is this general, this background, and this plain... there's not much else to talk about. That's why I'm not even mentioning a specific track in this entire review... it's just not necessary. It's as low stakes of a record that you can get. Even reading about Mac's journey across North America while hopping from one place to the next is far more interesting than the music itself. Usually albums will grow over time and I'll adjust my opinions (positive or negative) with each repeated listen but to be honest, I feel like I've gotten my point across by simply getting one listen of Five Easy Hot Dogs. Mac DeMarco seemed to get a jolt of getting back to recording music by going on this long winded road trip. All I hear is a faint spark that's equally as long winded as the trip itself.
My Rating: 4 / 10
Favorite Songs: ...
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