Explications
Close readings of Mac Miller's catalog. One song at a time, one album at a time. Currently working through Circles.
-
Good News — The Performance of Wellness
People only want to hear you're doing well. This song knows that, names it, and then asks the question the whole album has been circling: what's on the other side?
-
Blue World — The Song That Refuses to Stay Down
A 1952 torch song gets chopped into a beat that refuses to be lonely. Guy Lawrence brings the electronic edge, Mac brings the ease, and somewhere in there is a working theory of resilience: don't trip.
-
Circles — Drawing the Shape of the Thing That Has You
The thing about drawing circles is that you have to keep moving to stay in place. A close reading of the title track — and the case that the album loops back to itself, on purpose, in the harmony.