“Here Comes the Cowboy” is Indie artist Mac Demarco’s fourth studio album. Released back in May of this year, the album has received many mixed reviews. Despite often being called repetitive by critics, others have seen it to be more of a mature side of Demarco, with its mellow songwriting and minimalistic production. You can even see the minimalistic approach on the album cover being that it’s just a picture of a pin taken on an iPhone camera. 

Relaxed vulnerability is another visible theme on this album. You can see it on the track “Preoccupied” with lyrics, “Opened your mind and filled it with bulls***. Locked up your heart, without even knowing it. Must be a sign, the days that were living in. Preoccupied and nobody’s hiding it.” It’s not uncommon for Demarco to be reflective, considering it’s the main theme of a lot of his discography. Though, there are some levels of playfulness to this record with songs like “Here Comes The Cowboy,” “Choo-Choo,” and “Bye Bye Baby.” The album seems as though he is torn between his goofy side and emotional depth. 

This album is also seen as having a lack of focus and a slower pace. Without one common theme throughout the whole album. Rolling Stone’s Joe Levy, called the tracks “Stark, meditative, lonely, and stubbornly isolated, like spending forty-five minutes petting a cat. A static search for comfort.” That search for comfort seems to be a recurrence in Demarco’s music. It’s visible on his previous project “This Old Dog,” being that the majority of the album is about his father having a health scare and the fear of losing him. 

Debuting at number 10 on the US Billboard top 200, the album is Demarco’s first top 10. It had 20,000 pure album sales in the first week, showing how far Demarco has come as an artist. The track “Heart to Heart” features uncredited vocals by late artist and close friend of Demarco’s, Mac Miller, who passed away the previous September.

This album is definitely an interesting yet worthwhile listen with its mix of themes and unique production. I think Demarco gets across exactly what he intends to the listener. He shows a familiar yet new side of himself, making you interested to see what more he has in store for us as an artist. 

Nobody is one of my favorite tracks on this album. It was the first single Demarco released when he announced the album back in March. The production of this song is one of the simplest on the album. The melancholy tone and the lyrics mixed with the emotion of Demarco’s voice, makes you want to empathize with him. You can hear Demarco fighting with the idea of his own fame. “There’s no turning back, to nobody. There’s no second chance, no third degree.”