Mac DeMarco’s upcoming release is more than an album. It’s a journey.
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The jangle pop singer-songwriter set out on a road trip to record what would become his latest instrumental effort, titled Five Easy Hot Dogs. “The plan was to start driving north, and not go home to Los Angeles until I was done with a record,” he said in a statement. “Kind of like being on tour, except there werenʼt any shows, and Iʼd just be burning money.”
Staying in motels, hotels, or crashing at peopleʼs houses, DeMarco would record in these places, and keep on driving. The album is a collection of these recordings, each song named for the city it was recorded and mixed in.
“Some places I stayed longer in than others,” DeMarco explained of his cross-country voyage. “Some of them I knew from the past, others not so much. I tried to keep things busy all the time. If I didnʼt know what was up in a city, Iʼd just walk around ʻtil someone recognized me and go from there. I met a lot of interesting people this way, and had a bunch of cool experiences.”
DeMarco’s last album, Here Comes the Cowboy, dropped in 2019. Since then, he has released two sets of demos—Here Comes The Cowboy Demos and Other Here Comes The Cowboy Demos—and previously confirmed being hard at work on something new.
“I’m working on a record,” the artist said in an interview with NME. “I’m in New York. Am I working on it in New York? Maybe a little bit, some. Just in New York? Naw, I don’t think so. But I’m here now.” During the conversation, he gave few details about the project, just that it sounds like the Ewok Village from Return Of The Jedi.
DeMarcoʼs journey began in California, taking him across North America where he amassed 14 tracks worth of experiences. His trip concluded with an abbreviated stay in Utah.
“The nature of ripping around and recording and traveling in this manner doesnʼt lend well to sitting around and planning or thinking about what it was that I was setting out to do,” he said of the unique album-making process. “I didnʼt ever have a sound in mind, or a theme or anything, I would just start recording. Luckily the collection of recordings from this period all shake hands, they have a present musical identity as a whole. I was in it while I was in it, and this is what came out of it, just the way it was.
“This record sounds like what rolling around like that feels like,” he added. “I hope you enjoy.” Five Easy Hot Dogs is set for release on Jan. 20 and will be made available on vinyl on May 12.
Tracklist
1. Gualala
2. Gualala 2
3. Crescent City
4. Portland
5. Portland 2
6. Victoria
7. Vancouver
8. Vancouver 2
9. Vancouver 3
10. Edmonton
11. Edmonton 2
12. Chicago 1
13. Chicago 2
14. Rockaway
Photo by Kiera McNally/ Pitch Perfect PR
