By: Jacob Stewart
This is what it looks like. Long after you fall.
Damn. This is going to be a really bad review, but it’s one that needs to be made.
There are so many perspectives to talk about this from, since it rippled among a lot of people. I never was big on Mac Miller, but there’s something about this album that really hits the lightswitch that makes you look at the rest of his discography differently, including his previous lyrics. Swimming is so much different now, much more impactful. There’s an evolution that’s now ever more present. Proof that the best songs on his albums weren’t flukes. That Faces wasn’t just a diamond. It’s a man grown from a SoundCloud teen to an effective hip hop artist. And why on earth did we have to lose him?
Incredible props goes to Jon Brion for the best work on a posthumous release ever. Two years spent tinkering and making the product he thought Mac Miller was going towards. People look at him for his beautiful compositions with movies like Eternal Sunshine or Punch-Drunk, but Swimming already showed how perfect he paired with Mac as a producer. It was a match made out of a billion. I doubt anybody could have curtailed Mac’s vision like him.
What hurts is that the end product isn’t perfect. Hands has an annoying sample and some terrible bars. Once A Day is a boring closer. But to be honest… those complaints are unfair. They’re mistakes that were left on the tapes that can’t be changed.
Everything else on here is great. The highs may not be the highest, but there’s consistency to the quality. Circles hits so hard lyrically. Mac sounds defeated with the soft bells, guitar, and bass. You want to give him a hug to cure his defeatism. Complicated is a banger with beautiful synths and glitches. Guy Lawrence flips a nice 50s sample into a bop that just puts you above the clouds, while Mac serenades and does his best to make your day. It perfectly transitions into the one that makes most people cry, Good News. I never cried, but can you blame anyone who does? There’s a cloud created by the plucks and air of the mix, and Mac’s lyrics kill you with the context of his death. It’s hard to believe he actually was thinking about wanting to heaven soon, and instead just optimistically thinking that it’s not bad to think about an eventual good future, but it’s hard to detach the former thought with how devastated he is. I’m dying listening to it. It hurts my soul.
There’s more. I Can See has a beautiful backing from Ariana for the chorus, despite falling apart a bit from the space. Everybody is a really nice cover that’s easy to listen to. Woods has great percussion and the strings and synths are cathartic. Hand Me Downs somehow turns a great single feature out of a song that probably wasn’t remotely finished at the time of his death. Surf may be somewhat generic in its “tropical” guitar, but I think it comes well in the context of the album. It’s in a good place between Hands and the closer, as it settles you for the end.
That’s On Me falls more into Mac’s problems. He takes more than he should. He puts it all on him instead of others. How does one… cope with that? I can’t. We didn’t deserve you, Mac. Both your music and your personality. I really do believe there’s a whole lot more waiting for you where you are, just for you. It’s hard to find people who share the optimism you had at the worst of times.
OK. Now I’m crying. I think it’s OK to cry listening to this album.
