Juan Wauters and Mac DeMarco ride side-by-side through “Real” — a revealing, symbolic single that paints a pragmatic portrait of what one can expect on Wauters’ forthcoming album, Real Life Situations.
Wauters, who released a pair of full-length albums (La Onda de Juan Pablo and Introducing Juan Pablo) in 2019 and a 2020 EP (Más Canciones de la Onda) mostly comprised of songs recorded in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Uraguay looks to position himself at the nucleus of authenticity.
It is a shocker that the two former labelmates haven’t collaborated before and well, I guess that isn’t completely true. “Mac and I met in 2013 when our label Captured Tracks (we were both on the label then) thought it would be a good idea that we meet and do a song,” says Wauters. “We met and recorded Beatles songs. The tape machine we were working with broke and the songs were never recovered. After that, we never collaborated in any serious way.”
Almost a decade later and the two midnight cowboys have found their calling appearing together on a track that has it all — signature Mac guitar work, autotune, and a Paul Simon-like “la la la” to “na na na” singalong.
“When I reached out to Mac about the new project I was doing, he was down since the beginning,” said Wauters in a statement. “I happened to be going to LA so we did it at his studio. Mac provided a really safe place to bounce ideas off of each other. We tried a lot of new things and we ended up with this track so special. The song put an end to that awaited collaboration that was the initial impulse behind us meeting and forming a friendship that stood in time.”
Wauters and DeMarco have been around the same circuit for years now from swimming in similar circles as bands like Walter TV, HOMESHAKE (who will also feature on Real Life Situations), and Tonstartssbandht to sharing the stage with each other as separate acts and performing together.
DeMarco, aside from the sequential demos, hasn’t released a new album since Here Comes the Cowboy in May of 2019. As we awaited the arrival of Salad Days after 2 and Another One to This Old Dog, we’ve grown accustomed to waiting two years between releases from the Edmonton, Alberta product.
While the brief hiatus from album content is not surprising, the amount of collaboration and experimentation DeMarco has been apart of recently really is quite atypical. In the last handful of months alone, DeMarco has lent his prowess for features on Benny Sings, Yellow Days, and The Garden.
“Real” serves as a genuine reflection to be authentic with one’s self, not take everyday worries so seriously and be kind to one another. Wauters’ album Real Life Situations is expected April 30th, 2021 via Captured Tracks.
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