Mac Miller: "Circles" Album Review
If Mac Miller’s first posthumous release is the final album to his illustrious, yet short, career then I think I’ll be okay with that. Circles plays as a companion album to Swimming, his 2018 grammy-nominated album.
With Swimming, we witnessed Mac in his truest form, establishing himself more than ever. Proving to be more than just “cheesy Mac with the cheesy raps,” Mac went on to shed his frat-rap persona for good - continuing to shine as an undeniably talented songwriter. It was with Swimming that Mac began to truly use his voice in expressive ways, allowing time for beautiful electronic sounds to play out. With Circles, he picks up where he left off, allowing us to once again enter his mind.
The final track off of Swimming, titled “So It Goes,” Mac sings, “My god, it go on and on/Just like a circle, I go back to where I’m from.” Feeling as if his life is a cycle, a loop (or circle if you will) that he cannot seem to break, Mac always finds himself where he started. On Circles, he opens with, “Well this is what it look like right before you fall/Stumblin’ around, you’ve been guessing your direction/Next step you can’t see at all.” Often open about his depression, Mac knows that some days are good but that bad days are still to come. One moment he’s directionless, the next he’s on top of the world. On his first posthumous released single, “Good News,” Mac sings the following on the chorus: “No they don’t like it when I’m down/But when I’m flying, oh/It make ‘em so uncomfortable/So different, what’s the difference?”
Circles feels like a therapy session that provides us with Mac Miller’s final thoughts. Much like with Swimming, Mac is clearing his head. In songs like “Complicated,” Mac describes his mindset as being a cluttered mess that he tries, but just can’t seem to clean. A topic he’s discussed before, such as on Swimming’s “Come Back to Earth,” where he sings, “I just need a way out of my head/I’ll do anything for a way out of my head.” It’s evident that Mac feels as if he’s often alone with his thoughts and is constantly retreating into his head. On “Good News” he opens with: “I spent the whole day in my head/Do a little spring cleanin’/I’m aways too busy dreamin’/Well, maybe I should wake up instead.”
While Swimming provided us with the most singing we’ve ever heard from Mac, his companion album Circles does a complete 180, leaving us with minimal rapping. And as such, both albums bring balance to one another. In the fifth track on the album, “I Can See,” Mac provides hope on the first verse as he sings about “lookin’ for balance,” while also pleading for help before he “drives himself crazy.” Sticking to the theme of being in a loop, he continues in the second verse that “life is a fantasy until you wake up in shock” and he’s “hittin’ the ground” as he falls from the top. Looking to break old patterns, Mac also has to remind himself to embrace the presence, not to worry about yesterday or tomorrow. On “Complicated,” he sings, “Some people say they want to live forever/That’s way too long, I’ll just get through today.” On the final song of Mac’s final album, he wonders why everybody keeps rushing and why we aren’t taking our time?
Despite this loop that Mac cannot seem to break out of, he remains optimistic about working on himself. “Ayy, and I know we try/Days, they go by/Until we get old/There’s water in the flowers, let’s grow,” he raps on “Surf.” As he searches for a way to break the cycle while swimming in circles, Mac Miller culminates his career with one final musical act - with a slightly different style of direction filled with more intimate verses, soothing melodies, and comprehensive sounds and instruments. It’s almost as if Mac Miller came back to Earth and blessed us with one last masterpiece. A beautiful ending to a fulfilling career.