Listen to Mac DeMarco cover Bing Crosby's 'I'll Be Home for Christmas'

Mac DeMarco is back with another Christmas cover, this time offering his version of the Bing Crosby classic ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’.

The goofball of indie rock has made it something of a tradition to drop a festive cover over the last several years, including 2020’s rendition of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’. He’d previously taken on Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’, unsurprising given his open fondness for The Beatles.

His latest cover of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ comes complete with an official music video: it’s typically silly DeMarco fare, with an inflatable Christmas tree wandering through a town before finally finding its home amongst other real trees.

‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ was recorded by Crosby in 1943, becoming a top ten hit for the crooner. It was originally created to honour soldiers overseas who wished to be back home for the holidays. The song has since become a Christmas standard. Aside from DeMarco, it’s previously been covered by the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Josh Groban, and Michael Bublé.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, DeMarco has been relatively quiet on the music front. His last studio album, Here Comes the Cowboy, came out in May 2019, although it was followed in 2020 by the release of Here Comes the Cowboy Demos and Other Here Comes the Cowboy Demos. Here Comes the Cowboy peaked at number 25 on the ARIA Album Chart and number 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200.

There’s a reason for his absence, as he explained to Julian Casablancas late last year. “It’s weird right now,” he told The Strokes singer in a chat for Interview Magazine. “We’ve got this coronavirus bullshit. People ask: ‘Oh, you must be making all of these records.’ And it’s like: ‘No, I haven’t.’ There’s a block for me. I need things with definite ends.”

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