on january 12, 2014 mac demarco told ckua radio network that his second studio album would be titled "salad days" and would be released in april. he also performed three new songs: "treat her better", "salad days" and "let her go". the next day, he announced 36 tour dates in north america, south america and europe. on january 21, the release date of april 1, the track listing and album cover were revealed. that day also saw the release of the first single, "passing out pieces" and the album was made available for pre-order in the itunes store with an immediate download for "passing out pieces". the second single, "brother", was released on march 6.