Soft pop charmers from Mac DeMarco certainly mark a change in tone and style. It is not something that feels all that similar to the early years of Freaking Out the Neighbourhood but there is a calmness to Five Easy Hot Dogs that feels very nice. It is a strong next step for an artist hoping to craft some instrumentally defined pieces, although there are few on Five Easy Hot Dogs that will inspire much more than a weak smile. Taking to the road and riffing on his travels, DeMarco carries out a series of tracks that are named after places he has been, a chronological look through the life of a man on the road. It is as intimate as such a premise would expect, and that is the key to Five Easy Hot Dogs.
Its calming ambience is consistent enough to warrant a fourteen-track album. Doing exactly what it needs to and with good time too, DeMarco expresses a quality, quiet release. It’s the ambience that is important, and while there are no exciting hooks or moments of brilliance, there is a nice consistency. Some of it works, like the opening stretch from Gualala to Crescent City, and other bits experiment with new sounds that are hard to criticise because of how well-formed the concept is. A Vancouver trilogy is quite nice. Portland may not have the crispest sound going, but DeMarco is at least adding those new flourishes to keep the project rumbling on at the same pace as his tour.
Five Easy Hot Dogs does rumble on. It must do so, although it has no real connection beyond nice-sounding tracks. There is no need to make a statement, this light and lovely release is perfect for a half-hour with some noise-cancelling headphones and a cheeky little coffee. What Five Easy Hot Dogs does not manage to do is feel all that colloquial with its rhythm. There is no feeling of deeper note, there is no expression that can safely touch an audience or listener with an inflection of where the tour is going or any notion of how emotional clarity has affected the tracks. To do so would be a gamble with the flow of the tracks, and it is fair of DeMarco to not sacrifice. After all, this is an easy-listening album. That does not mean that some more intimate flourishes would go amiss, though.
Genuinely some of the most relaxing and bedroom pop-oriented pieces come from the most surprising of places. There is a tenderness to these tracks, a real consistency to them that does not elevate itself beyond the easy listening it aims for. DeMarco has succeeded in moving his music along to the next avenue of interest and does so by coming straight for the heart. Five Easy Hot Dogs is a light and lovely pick-me-up after those days of stressful mornings, horrid evenings and the lack of relaxation in between it all. Charmingly calm and just right – even if there are no definitive, standout tracks to hold up and say “this is what the next phase of this artist is”. Five Easy Hot Dogs certainly is something DeMarco should pursue, although whether or not he does is what audiences will have to hold out and see.
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