Mac DeMarco Preps Instrumental LP Recorded During Road Trip

Mac DeMarco is starting the new year with the instrumental album Five Easy Hot Dogs, which he recorded on his own during an extended road trip last year. The 14-track release arrives Jan. 20 on CD/digital the artist’s Mac’s Record Label, with a vinyl edition arriving May 12.

“The plan was to start driving north, and not go home to Los Angeles until I was done with a record,” DeMarco says. “Some places I stayed longer in than others, some of them I knew from the past, others not so much. I tried to keep things busy all the time. If I didnʼt know what was up in a city, Iʼd just walk around ʻtil someone recognized me and go from there. I met a lot of interesting people this way, and had a bunch of cool experiences.”

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The music here was recorded and mixed in the place referred to each in song title, and the track listing reflects the chronological order in which the songs were recorded. “I had my guitars with me, a bass, a weird little drum kit with a kick drum we sawed in half in Golden Gate Park, all the stands and cabling Iʼd need, a couple of mics, an old model D, and a TX7,” DeMarco says. “I wound up picking a bunch of stuff as I went as well, trying to keep it as travel friendly as possible though.”

DeMarco’s road trip abruptly ended after an unsettling stay at an enormous cabin in Utah loaded with “a bunch of taxidermy animals. No other humans for probably 50 miles in any direction. Horrible idea. I lasted one night and went back to Los Angeles the next day.”

Five Easy Hot Dogs is DeMarco’s first album since 2019’s Here Comes the Cowboy, which reached No. 2 on Billboard‘s Independent and Top Alternative Albums charts.

Here is the track list for Five Easy Hot Dogs:

“Gualala”
“Gualala 2”
“Crescent City”
“Portland”
“Portland 2”
“Victoria”
“Vancouver”
“Vancouver 2”
“Vancouver 3”
“Edmonton”
“Edmonton 2”
“Chicago 1”
“Chicago 2”
“Rockaway”

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