"I just want to hear the instrument," says Mac DeMarco of his new album Guitar. The beloved musician has stripped everything back to guitar and drums, deliberately avoiding pedals and effects in pursuit of something pure. "I'm looking for the human," he explains, describing his approach to making music in an era where any sound is easily achievable.

Currently splitting his time between Los Angeles and Canada, DeMarco embodies this back-to-basics philosophy in his daily life too. When he's not recording, he's building well enclosures, fixing motorcycles, or helping his mother with home renovations.

The same restraint that shapes his music extends to his personal choices. He's found peace in morning canoe rides and recently quit drinking and smoking. "Everything just seems to be getting brighter and brighter, but maybe in an intense way," he says on how life feels more acute without those old habits.

In conversation with Lauren Taylor for Breaking and Entering, DeMarco talks about his instinctive music making process, what 'home' means to him now, and larping as a Canadian. He also reflects on classics from his catalogue, and talks about his impact on a whole new generation of artists.