The LA-based singer-songwriter steps away from his Beavis and Butthead onstage persona to make a thoughtful, tender and musically tight third album. DeMarco has always worn his talent lightly, but finally he sounds focused, reflecting on relationships like a millennial Cat Stevens, particularly those with his absent father and his long-term girlfriend. The 27-year-old still sings in languid, unadorned tones over the sun-dappled disco shuffle of For the First Time, but there’s a growing awareness of his own agency. On Still Beating he admits: “I never thought some silly songs could ever go and hurt someone.” But what beautiful heartbreak this is.
