Mac Demarco- Salad Days

Canadian singer/songwriter Mac DeMarco is back, with his second full length ‘Salad Days’, staying in the right direction and not leaving too much of what he did on the first album, Mac DeMarco’s soothing vocals and guitar riffs are back and better than ever.

The laid-back, carefree DeMarco, has gone from a who? To a household name in the indie scene, with his cult following worldwide. From opening gigs in front of 300 people to a headlining tour in Asia. The seriousness of his music does not reflect the free spirited DeMarco, leaving his child-like antics and growing into the mature artist. With ‘Salad Days’ DeMarco has expressed that he wanted to make it more meaningful, not making songs about nothing like he did before, he wanted the album to sound like he had just done a year and a half of touring, and he is tired.
The titled track ‘Salad Days’, gets the album rolling on a high note, becoming a DeMarco classic, and finding a place in our hearts forever. ‘Blue Boy’, a track that is clearly one of DeMarco’s darker tracks, one about finding himself caught in his own mind, worrying about life that is out of his control. With this record it’s almost as if he is trying to communicate with himself or give advice to his listeners.

The psychedelic sounds of ‘Brother’, a calm sing along chorus “To take it slowly, brother, Let it go now, brother, Take it slowly, brother Let it go”, and a Tame Impala-esque outro, one of the singles from this album, ‘Brother’, is where this album becomes it’s own.
The personal touch of this album can be heard through tracks ‘Let My Baby Stay’ and ‘Treat Her Better’, bringing his long term relationship with girlfriend Kiera McNally into his lyrics, giving himself some advice with the lyrics of this tracks. Some of the most revealing work we have seen from Mac. ‘Treat Her Better’, almost sounding like a demo track one with very little modification, DeMarco giving us another feel of how personal this record is.
‘Passing Out Pieces’ the first single from the album, a masterpiece. “Can't claim to care, never been reluctant to share, Passing out pieces of me, don't you know nothing comes free?”, Relatable lyrics from Mac, but ones that seem to mean more to him than to anyone else. The tolls that the excessive touring and interviews have played on his life, he is ‘Passing Out Pieces’ of his life to each one of us.
‘Chamber of Reflection’, DeMarco leaving his norm, and going into a song %100 synth based, and it works. ‘Chamber of Reflection’ does more than enough to please us and brings more depth to this album.

‘Go Easy’ and ‘Jonny’s Odyssey’ close off Mac DeMarco’s best record yet, the Canadian has seemed to grow up and finds himself where he probably never expected. ‘Salad Days’ has everything that he needed from a follow up record, and is one that will be remembered for a long time to come.

7/10