Before you ancients out there turn your heads and scoff at the premise of a twenty-something rock-and-roll goofball calling himself an old-anything, consider this: said perpetrator, he who answers to the name Mac DeMarco, has spent the better part of his time thus far writing, recording, and releasing an album of his own music pretty much every calendar flip, and pretty much on his own. This Old Dog makes for his fifth in just over half a decade – bringing the total to 3 LPs and 2 EPs. According to the DMV, MacBriare Samuel Lanyon DeMarco is 26. But in working-dog years, ol’ Mac here could easily qualify for social security. To stay gold, turns out all he needed was some new tricks.

It was a little spacein time, location, and methodthat inspired DeMarco while making the record. Moving from his isolated Queens home to a house in Los Angeles helped give the somewhat transient Canada-native a base, and a few more months on his calendar to create did their job as well. Arriving in California with a grip of demos hed written in New York, he realized after a few months of setting up his new shopcomplete with a few new toysthat the gap was giving him perspective (insert tooth joke here).

Right off the bat, from the pops and clicks of the CR-78 drum machine and acoustic strums on the album-opening My Old Man, the synth-drenched beauty of the second track, This Old Dog, its clear that DeMarcos bag is filled with new tricks indeed. This Old Dog is rooted more in a synth-base than any of his previous releases, but he is careful not to let that tactic overshadow the other instruments and overall unplugged mood of the work: This is my acoustic album, but its not really an acoustic album at all. Thats just what it feels like, mostly, says DeMarco.

Despite the changes considered during the creation of This Old Dog, Mac DeMarcos mid-twenties masterpiece, its clear that the engine that motors him is in no danger of slowing down.