These bummed-out reflections on lost love prove that, although DeMarco’s music is not as cheerful or charming as it once was, his songwriting is as warm and inviting as ever. Another One is packed with classic, catchy pop songs in the vein of Harry Nilsson, Jonathan Richman or Steely Dan.
Demarco may not be a constant innovator, but hardly anyone is, and his ability to repeat with originality is commendable.
Admittedly, it’s a volatile cocktail. But here’s the rub: It works for him. It worked for him on 2, and it worked for him again on Salad Days. It should come as no surprise, then, that it works on Another One, maybe better than it’s ever worked before.
This slight deviation in sentiment for DeMarco is a noticeable and welcome one. It reinforces the fact that he isn't simply a joker, but a real creative talent with an undeniably infectious sense of humour.
Another One is an album of love songs. They aren’t all happy, but the record escapes the pigeonhole classification of “the breakup album.”
The surface of Another One is pure pleasure; underneath, it’s not quite so easy.
Repeated listening makes it hard not to see the album as some sort of quasi-confessional mini-masterpiece, and if not that, at least another example of his increasing strength as a songwriter.
While – as with predecessor Salad Days – it can take time to delve beyond vocal affectations reminiscent of John Lennon on a fairground ride (or Julian Lennon, if you’re being cruel), once you do, this is a mini-album loaded with emotional integrity.
‘Another One’ neither sounds particularly different to his last album, 2014’s ‘Salad Days’, nor does it give much indication of where he’ll go next; rather it does for ‘Salad Days’ what ‘Salad Days’ did for his previous album, ‘2’ – offers added richness and refinement to his very songbook style of writing.
Musically, it's no great departure from the world he created on Salad Days, but there's a feeling of listening in on an artist who is just coming into the peak of his powers, and the creative spirit behind these subtly charming songs is immediately apparent.
The success of previous album Salad Days appears to have also given him the confidence to deliver his most concise, straight-up pop songs yet.
DeMarco's previous album, 2014's Salad Days, explored the frailty of love, leavening it with trademark humour, and this continues on Another One, in which joy and despair waltz together like old friends.
Another One is even more harrowing than Salad Days. The hazy production and wobbly guitar lines are still there, but DeMarco’s lyrics draw deeper into regret and how he could have done things better with his lover.
Ultimately, Another One doesn’t feel like a fully realised vision, but DeMarco clearly didn’t set out to produce a feature-length sequel to Salad Days. The man seems to possess a profound creative impulse, and it seems he’s keen to share the results with his fans.
It's like a novella, or a made-for-TV movie—something to chew on while we wait for the next major project.
Perhaps it’s not a shock then that current clown prince of slackerdom, Mac DeMarco, has finally made his bluest release. Another One has the usual brushes of DeMarco’s work – his soft croon, wayward guitars and goofy choruses – but it’s all tinged with a palpable heartache.
Even on stopgap releases like this relatively repetitive mini-album, DeMarco’s lysergic balladry and hangdog puppy love have an unbeatable effortlessness.
What it lacks in ambition, it more than makes up for in songwriting ... What it lacks by way of revelation, it more than makes up for in satisfaction.
DeMarco’s continual output is as exciting as it is impressive. These eight tracks were written in less than three weeks between shows on a recent tour, and the continuity of surfer twang and synthesiser melodies are indicative of this.
Call it a low-stakes play, but Another One is a snapshot of an artist who's found his lane and continues to mine it for affecting, melodically spry material.
It’s more of his seemingly tossed-off guitar balladry, stretched-out and warbled like he recorded direct-to-rubber band instead of direct-to-tape, but this time there are fewer winks and stunts, just more of the DeMarco who wants to love you tender.
Another One is boldly vulnerable with little bitterness, an ultimate guide for how to incorporate dusting yourself off into your productivity instead of allowing it to derail you.
What Another One does provide - in abundance - is proof that DeMarco has the songwriting chops to back up his reputation as one of indie rock’s last true characters.
As great as these new songs are, they’re also incredibly repetitive: the same riff, the same mood, the same shimmery guitar and the same words.
Mac DeMarco, the self-proclaimed purveyor of “jizz jazz”, operates at a pace that belies his slacker reputation, with this eight-track mini-album following swiftly on last year’s Salad Days, and mere weeks after his instrumental “BBQ soundtrack” album Some Other Ones.
He continues to craft wry pop songs about the vicissitudes of love and his slackerish geniality pervades Another One, from its hype-diffusing title to the offer of a cup of coffee that he extends to listeners on the final track.
The changes in sound are minor compared to the similarities in the songwriting; the guitar chords and melodies, the songs themselves feel reassembled from his own pre-existing (admittedly quite recognizable) repertoire of licks and runs.
Unfortunately for DeMarco, all the ‘watery’ guitar-work in the world doesn’t disguise that these are wisps of songs that wear thin with their slack tales of his romantic endeavours
(⭐️): 2/8
🟩: 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 8
🟨: 0
🟥: 0
83🟩⭐️ Another One
80🟩⭐️ No Other Heart
77🟩 The Way You'd Love Her
76🟩 A Heart Like Hers
73🟩 I've Been Waiting for Her
70🟩 Without Me
63🟩 My House by the Water
62🟩 Just to Put Me Down
Nota: 73🟩
Mac delivers a well put together ep, its nothing special. It's just his normal style, good music but nothing new. Its just another one.
Another one is, as its name says, simply another Mac disk that doesn't do anything new or interesting.
(⭐️): 2/8
🟩: 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 8
🟨: 0
🟥: 0
83🟩⭐️ Another One
80🟩⭐️ No Other Heart
77🟩 The Way You'd Love Her
76🟩 A Heart Like Hers
73🟩 I've Been Waiting for Her
70🟩 Without Me
63🟩 My House by the Water
62🟩 Just to Put Me Down
Nota: 73🟩
1 | The Way You'd Love Her 2:36 | 83 |
2 | Another One 2:40 | 87 |
3 | No Other Heart 2:53 | 87 |
4 | Just to Put Me Down 3:18 | 78 |
5 | A Heart Like Hers 4:01 | 84 |
6 | I've Been Waiting for Her 2:47 | 75 |
7 | Without Me 2:57 | 86 |
8 | My House by the Water 2:34 | 63 |
#27 | / | Blare |
#27 | / | NME |
#27 | / | The Guardian |
#36 | / | Rough Trade |
#39 | / | Piccadilly Records |
#44 | / | Under the Radar |
#50 | / | Q Magazine |
#74 | / | Crack Magazine |