In Mac Demarco’s last album, This Old Dog, he delivered a moody blue wave collection of songs that brought easy listening to the next level. Most tracks off of the album still sound dark and basement-made – a sort of brand that Demarco has mastered and garnered attention and large fan-base with. But, between the release of his last album This Old Dog and his newest track, “Nobody,” which was released on March 5, Demarco must have played like a dog and rolled over.
Demarco dropped “Nobody,” the first released track from his much awaited album, Here Comes the Cowboy, which is scheduled to hit streaming platforms and radio waves on May 10. Demarco has historically been responsible for both singing and playing the instrumentals in his songs, which he continued in “Nobody”.
If this song were a McDonald’s Big Mac, Demarco’s prominent singing voice would serve as the special sauce. It hits you in all the right ways. You look forward to it, and it does not disappoint. You are happy it is there, and to be honest, it might be the best part of the whole thing. Despite his voice, the most prominent piece of this song is the synthesized background noise that helps carry the song from beginning to end. The synth background is the lettuce. To be honest, it is kind of all over, in every direction. It has even fallen into your lap, but it’s cool. Aside from its chaotic nature, it pleases you. Sometimes electric or acidic in their own way, the lettuce, er, synth sounds, are prominent, important, and almost ever-present in plenty of Demarco’s previous works. Patient drums are recognized behind it all, thumping along, almost serving as the glue that holds the entire song together. Because of their glue-like nature, I will liken the drums to the slice of cheese that accompanies a Big Mac. Mostly because it will stick to the roof of your mouth and kind of hang out through the whole duration of the sandwich, or song. The cheese is a complete crowd favorite. Unlike the variety used at McDonald’s, I would not say that Demarco’s cheese (drums) is artificial. The bass is like the pickles. Sometimes hard to find, but always a tangy treat. They are essential to the sandwich and things would just not be the same without them. The guitar is played simply throughout the entire song, only waning when the song comes to a close. Almost savory in nature, we will say that the guitar is like the two all beef patties that are nestled between the other fixin’s. If it wasn’t obvious, I may have been hungry while I was writing this article. Still, I really do believe that the song is like a classic Big Mac. You are excited to dig in, entertained during the middle, and left feeling satisfied at the end of it all.
Despite not making its complete debut yet, Here Comes the Cowboy has stirred up controversy and questions from fans across various music communities online. Fans of the popular indie rock singer, Mitski, pointed out online the striking resemblance in language used in the title of Mitski’s song, “Nobody”, and the resemblance in language to the collection which the song was released from, her popular and cherished 2018 album, Be the Cowboy. Demarco and his team were heavily criticised by both fans and music critics for their presumed carelessness. When reached out to for a statement, a representative of Demarco announced that the artist had never heard of Mitski’s song, nor had he heard of her album. *Insert eye-roll from me, Carly Erickson*. Regardless of the backlash, Mitski released a tweet on March 5, detailing that she and Demarco both have the same PR team, and that she was not pressed by the issue.
I would like to take a moment to thank you, the dedicated reader, for loyally following along to a song review in which I equated an indie song to a Big Mac. If anybody would like to sign my petition to start publicly recognizing Demarco as, “Big MacDemarco”, check out my Twitter for more information.
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