“There’s no turning back to nobody,” Mac DeMarco sings on the lead single from his new album. “There’s no second chance, no third degree.” The song a low-key lament about the perils of fame, yet from that personal subject matter DeMarco manages to wring universal feelings of longing and regret. It’s a beauty — despite a music video that finds DeMarco dressed up in ghastly Voldemort makeup, smoking a cigar in a bathrobe and cowboy hat.

The track’s called “Nobody,” and DeMarco’s album is titled Here Comes The Cowboy, but any resemblance to Mitski’s 2018 LP Be The Cowboy which also has a track called “Nobody” is purely coincidental, we’re told. (Though they do have the same publicist… hmm!) (Just kidding. I think.)

(UPDATE: On Twitter, Mitski writes: “haha! I’m 100% sure mac & I just went fishing in the same part of the collective unconscious! What’s wild is we have the same PR, so I LOVE my personal conspiracy theory that she heard the album+track titles but kept quiet thinking maybe some Mac fans will mistakenly find me loll.” She adds, “Anyway thanks for the laugh, Mac! Happy release!” And: “my god, why is everyone mad? i’m laughing!”)

Here Comes The Cowboy is DeMarco’s first since 2017’s fantastic This Old Dog. It was written, recorded, and mixed in LA during the first two weeks of this year. DeMarco purchased the rusty smiley face pin on the front cover, which reportedly also features on the back cover, from a man in the mountains of the Nantahala National Forest between Chattanooga and Asheville.

In a press release, DeMarco explains, “This one is my cowboy record. Cowboy is a term of endearment to me, I use it often when referring to people in my life. Where I grew up there are many people that sincerely wear cowboy hats and do cowboy activities. These aren’t the people I’m referring to.”

Below, watch the “Nobody” video and check out the album’s tracklist.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Here Comes The Cowboy”
02 “Nobody”
03 “Finally Alone”
04 “Little Dogs March”
05 “Preoccupied”
06 “Choo Choo”
07 “K”
08 “Heart To Heart”
09 “Hey Cowgirl”
10 “On The Square”
11 “All of Our Yesterdays”
12 “Skyless Moon”
13 “Baby Bye Bye”

Here Comes The Cowboy is out 5/10 via Mac’s Record Label. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Christine Lai