Ever since “Salad Days” was released in 2014 and got popular in 2020 Mac DeMarco has been the talk of indie music. With his new release, “Five Easy Hot Dogs,” in January. We are used to having lyrics in Demarco’s albums, this one is just an instrumental, but let’s dive deeper into it. 

After his Four Year departure, “Five Easy Hot Dogs” became the fifth album by Mac DeMarco, which was announced on January 4 and was released on January 20. He made the album during his trip from Los Angeles to New York. Though this isn’t Mac DeMarco’s first instrumental album, it has been a while since his first instrumental album. It caught some of his fans a bit off guard since his last released album, “Here Comes the Cowboy”, was about uncertain plans and lost lovers.

Some of the titles to his instrumentals are a little questionable, but what is the meaning behind them? The meaning behind titles are based on the places encountered throughout the road trip he took during the making of the album. These fourteen instrumentals are named after the cities in which DeMarco recorded them in. He does mention how he didn’t think about how the song was going to sound like, all he did was just hit record and whatever came out is what he was releasing.

Some people question how he was able to get the motivation to record an album while on a road-trip, where he should be enjoying himself. DeMarco stated in a previous interview that he wouldn’t come back home without an album for his fans. But is there more to it? DeMarco is well-known for demos or as he calls them,”Demo-itis”. Unfortunately, DeMarco did not pack that in for his fan’s during the making of this album.

Though this album can be a wonderful one of DeMarcos experiences behind the album weren’t the best. DeMarco mentions how Utah was such an awful experience. Why? He left New York on his way to Utah in order to get some recording in, but he had simply gotten into a routine of having fun almost every second of the day and once he went to Utah the experience was like The Shining, like he was reliving the movie. It was so isolated for DeMarco, “I packed my bags and left straight to Coachella,” DeMarco said in a previous interview.

“Five Easy Hot Dogs” was one of the many albums that left DeMarco with plenty of stories and memories he can say that shaped the album. Everything has its flaws, but that’s what makes it even better. Overall the album is something different and something that is wonderful to listen to during studying, relaxing, just being by yourself, or during a hangout with friends where the vibe is just sit and chill. The album’s wide range of melodies and pitches with beautiful instrumentals are definitely something worth giving a listen to.