After a few beats of silence, in true Mac fashion, he speaks out his address and invites listeners to come by for a cup of coffee. The song is simply the sound of waves crashing and water trickling, with a few guitar chords mixed into it. The best part of the album by far is the last song, ‘My House on the Water.’ It’s a beautiful finale to the complexity of Another One, both lyrically and musically. The little guitar strokes in the song resonate with the sound of a heart beating fast, just as you may feel when you see the person you love smile.
‘I’ve Been Waiting for Her’ is a beachy, sunny song about the beat of a girl’s heart. Although Mac does recognize the disappointment that comes with being in love, he equally keeps things light by singing about the joys of love. With lyrics like, “Tried so hard to believe in something that will never be,” Demarco reminds listeners that illusions can be just as powerful as reality when it comes to love, and the shattering of those illusions can be just as painful as losing the real thing. ‘A Heart Like Hers’ strips down the emotional barriers we build up to avoid heartbreak. Mac poetically sings about the pains of learning to find your own happiness to bring you joy in life, rather than relying on the happiness of someone else.
Demarco’s album will definitely strike a chord with anyone who’s ever been in love, as he touches upon the human tendency to be irrational when we are in love. On the track ‘Without Me,’ Mac sings about the all-consuming thought of the person you love no longer loving you back. While preliminary lust and longing are major themes on Another One, Demarco does not shy away from opening up about the stark realities of love and the darkness that comes with them. This LP certainly has a youthful take on love, and younger listeners will be able to empathize with the perspective of the album. The ways in which we fantasize about romance and idealize ourselves in relationships are all explored on Another One. The first track, ‘The Way You’d Love Her,’ is written about the naivete enshrined in the process of love, particularly first love. He journeys through heartbreak and desire, but in a way that doesn’t make Another One feel strictly like a breakup album. Lyrically, Mac’s album tells a love story through prose that touches on different stages and individual interpretations of love. Mac has seamlessly mastered the art of discombobulated simplicity in his music, with layers of raw instrumentals overlapping one another to create something that’s really not so simple. On the track Another One, Demarco tries his hand at the keyboard, giving the song a hollowness that is reminiscent of an organ being played in a large church. Never one to keep the mood of the music somber or downcast, Demarco stays fresh and upbeat with his rhythms and hits a wide range of notes. Another One is sure to satisfy the appetites of Demarco’s biggest fans with classic Mac lyrics and heavy guitar sounds.Īnother One embodies Mac’s musically playful side, with lots of textured guitar tones and synthesizers. A revered hero among hipsters and college students, this Canadian musician has made quite a name for himself in the past few years with his lighthearted love ballads and his spunky media persona. But at their best, these songs have a charm that’s aching and amiable.Another One is the latest LP from the 21 st century’s goofball icon, Mac Demarco. Sometimes it’s all too universal: A chorus like “believe me, I’ve been waiting for her” has both a winning simplicity and a numbing familiarity. “Must be another one she loves.” DeMarco has said that this is his stab at universal pop - everyone has found and lost love, after all. “Who could that be knocking at her door?” he asks in the title track, as he ponders love and trust slipping away.
The lyrics are full of heartbreak and longing, with DeMarco’s voice and guitar threading through melancholy keyboards like a cat looking for a sunbeam in a room with the shades drawn. Over the course of four releases since 2012 - not one of them more than 35 minutes long - the Canadian singer-songwriter has continually upped the ante without exactly playing high stakes, and this eight-track mini-LP is his craftiest set of tunes yet. His melodies and slide guitar stumble and dance their way through songs that often feel like reverse Polaroids: A fully developed image fades into haze as you watch. A boy hero to indie-rock fans who prize delicately demented pop, Mac DeMarco has the casual grace of early Beck, bringing a shambolic scuzz to the creamy sounds of Seventies soft rock.