Mac DeMarco Salad Days

"As I'm getting older, chip up on my shoulder..." is the opening line from Mac DeMarco'ssecond full-length LP `Salad Days,' the follow up to 2012's lauded `Mac DeMarco 2.'Amongst that familiar croon and lilting guitar, that initial line from the title track sets the tonefor an LP of a maturing singer/songwriter/producer. Someone strangely self-aware of thepositives and negatives of their current situation at the ripe old age of 23.Written and recorded around a relentless tour schedule (which picked up all over again assoon as the LP was done), `Salad Days' gives the listener a very personal insight into whatit's all about to be Mac amidst the craziness of a rising career in a very public format. Thelead single, "Passing Out Pieces," set to huge overdriven organ chords, contains lines like"...never been reluctant to share, passing out pieces of me..." Clearly, this isn't the samerecord that breezily gave us "Dreamin," and "Ode to Viceroy" but the result of what comesfrom their success. "Chamber of Reflection," a track featuring icy synth stabs and soulfulcrooning, wouldn't be out of place on a fantasy Shuggie Otis and Prince collaboration.Standout tracks like these show Mac's widening sound, whether insights into futuredirections or even just welcome one-off forays into new territory.Still, this is musically, lyrically and melodically good old Mac DeMarco, through and through.The same crisp John Lennon / Phil Spector era homegrown lush production that could havewalked out of Geoff Emerick's mixing board in 1972, but with that peculiar Mac touch that'scompletely of right now. "Brother," a complete future classic, is Mac at his most soulful andeasygoing but with that distinct weirdness and bite that can only come from Mr. DeMarco."Treat Her Better" is rife with "Mac-isms," heavily chorused slinky lead guitar, swooningvocal melodies, effortless chords that come along only after years of effort, and the otherelements seriously lacking in independent music: sentiment and h...