Mac Miller had a vision before he passed: Swimming in Circles.
Mac’s previous album, Swimming, was released in August 2018, a month before his death. His new posthumous album, Circles, is now finished, with the help of producer Jon Brion and the wishes of his family. To speculate the meaning of his lyrics in relation to his death misses the way it was intended to be heard when Mac was alive, creating, introspective, and experimental. He was still coming to terms with his demons, understanding more of the way he was and the way others are.
Circles has Mac Miller showing that he is wise beyond his short 26 years. Expanding on his hip-hop roots with more singing and songwriting, his ambitions for the future were vulnerable, hopeful, and wildly artistic. The documentation of a life can only go on so long, and eventually one runs out of captured moments to recall. By finishing this album, the collection of Mac’s art is expanding, ever-growing, taking on new meaning, touching multi-dimensional audiences, and giving breath to his voice.
With soft acoustics, strings, smooth jazz, rap, lulling melodies, tracks like “Woods,” “I Can See” and “Hand Me Downs” are vibey, melancholic, and peaceful with an edge. “Circles,” the opening title track, is warm and patient. It’s a stylistic evolution and a passionate continuation of his thoughts, like a distant view on his own life. “And I can keep you safe, I can keep you safe; Do not be afraid, do not be afraid,” he sings, and who doesn’t wish in retrospect that we could have kept him safe. Mac’s signature slurs give a drowsy feel to the whole piece, like he’s singing in a dream.
The video for “Good News” is the realization of the Mac Miller dream world. Stunning, swirling visuals in vibrant greens, blues, pinks, vast landscapes and skies, millions of flowers and millions of Macs. It speaks to his dealings with the rest of the world, things that were expected of him, but through and through he is not angry in those observations, but rather calm.
More than that, he seems happy. Especially at the end, hyped up over the sound coming together, laughing blissfully, dabbling the piano riffs in the air. It’s Mac Miller heaven, on earth. “No, I ain’t God but I’m feeling just like him,” he coos on “Blue World.”
Circles sees Mac surpass the bounds of genre, and listening to his words, one can only wonder where he was headed. But as he says on the sixth track, “Everybody’s gotta live, and everybody’s gonna die; Everybody just wanna have a good, good time.”
“Blue World” and “Complicated” contrast the rest of the album with a more upbeat, electronic feel. His self-awareness sets him apart, and his ability to simplify the stresses in his life allows others to relate to it. Instead of moping to sad songs to feel like an artist shares your hard times, listening to Mac’s album gives a deeper connection.
It leaves you not particularly sad or happy, but simply hearing him out and hanging on his every word. “Surf” is intimate and simple, a one-on-one conversation. “Where are you going, can I come too? …We could be fine, shit, who the hell knows?” he asks. He takes us along on the journey of getting to know himself in this world, “Until we get old, there’s water in the flowers, let’s grow,” he continues on “Surf.” Through and through, it is clear that this was not meant to be the end.
Featured graphic by Paloma Callo.
