Mac DeMarco

Mac DeMarco may never have been the best guitarist nor a virtuoso singer, but with his first two albums, 2 and Salad Days, he achieved something far more valuable with apparent ease: a Mac DeMarco song ended up echoing in the collective imagination as something recognisable and familiar. A lo-fi rock canon that made him a sort of imaginary son of Jonathan Richman when he burst onto the scene around 2012, although his influence has ended up reaching two or even three generations. Almost fifteen years after his debut, his mark is evident in the sound of other artists such as Steve Lacy and Dijon.

After achieving something worthwhile, the Canadian decided to do something strange: he began interspersing ‘official’ albums like This Old Dog with collections of demos, instrumental records and diverse amusements, as if he wanted to embrace a low-key profile away from the spotlight. And when he had gone almost six years without releasing a studio album as such, he picked up his favourite instrument and recorded the minimalist Guitar in just thirteen days.