Circles, a new album from the late Mac Miller, will be released next week.
In an Instagram note on Wednesday, Mac's family announced the posthumous album, describing it as a "companion" to the critically acclaimed Swimming. Composer Jon Brion assisted in bringing the album to completion, having heard "early versions of songs" prior to Mac's 2018 death. The album will be released on Jan. 17.
Read the family's statement on Circles in full below:
Here we are. The act of having to write this at all feels surreal. At the time of his passing, Malcolm was well into the process of recording his companion album to Swimming entitled Circles. Two different styles complementing each other, completing a circle. Swimming in Circles was the concept. He had been working with Jon Brion, who after hearing some early versions of songs, cleared his calendar to help Malcolm fine-tune them. After his passing, Jon dedicated himself to finishing Circles based on his time and conversations with Malcolm. We are eternally grateful to Jon and to those who gave their best to the difficult and emotional task of putting out this body of work.
In the IG post, the cover art for Circles was also revealed:
A posthumous Mac verse arrived last year on 88-Keys and Sia's "That's Life."
Last October, Mac's mother Karen Meyers publicly requested that friends and fans not participate in an unauthorized biography project. "There is a writer doing a Mac Miller biography that some of you have been approached about or will be," she said in an open letter. "This book is not authorized [or] approved by Mac's family or estate. We are not participating and prefer you don't either if you personally knew Malcolm."
Swimming, Mac's fifth album, dropped in August of 2018 and was ultimately nominated for Best Rap Album at the following year's Grammy Awards. The album opened at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was met with widespread critical acclaim. The album was originally intended to be supported by a tour of the same name featuring Thundercat and J.I.D.
RIP.
