Mac Miller’s new album, Circles, was released January 17, 2020- though Miller passed away on September 7, 2018. After working on the album before his death, Miller engaged his producer Jon Brion to produce the album and Brion “dedicated himself to finishing Circles based on his time and conversations with Malcolm,” according to the McCormick family’s statement.
Miller died due to an accidental drug overdose and made a big impact on his fans and supporters. After the release of Circles, a pop-up listening event was made in Hollywood at the D.O.M. Gallery. The gallery ordinarily has contemporary art and sells streetwear, accessories and Yeezys (Kanye West’s sneaker brand). The event holds two rooms. In the first room, there is a gallery of pictures of Miller along a section with many options of Millers merchandise. The photos are a collection of Miller’s life such as childhood pictures or him recording in the studio.
The second room is a smaller darker room with a bar on one side and on the other side, there are chairs and couches. In this room, the Circles album is played consecutively in the room where one is encouraged to relax and enjoy his music.
The album is an optimistic coda to his other album, Swimming. He talks about pushing through his struggles and to keep your head up. In his song ‘I Can See’, Miller says “I’m hitting the ground, I fell from the top. You never expect to drop so hold on, but that’s the way it goes, your God don’t wait for no one. And when that’s all you now, it keeps you on your toes. You got so far to go but look where you came from,” illustrating the idea of no matter how hard the struggle is, you have come a long way and to keep trying.
This album gives insight to Millers life and what he was going through, making it so hard-hitting to hear after he has already passed away. Circles is very similar to Swimming, but is very different from Millers’ other work. He sings more in these two albums, opposed to his other releases, where he primarily raps.There is nearly no rapping in his new album, but in the songs where he does- he expresses his love for the writing and form. He raps and sings about his improvement of not only an artist but as a person.