Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Jan 17, 2020If Miller hadn't passed, Circles would be an insightful, focused addition to his strong late-era catalog, shining a necessary light on emotional and mental health struggles and sobriety through his deeply reflective lyrics and the wonderfully enjoyable and warm production work by Brion. Instead, it's yet another reminder of lost potential and a life cut tragically short.
-
Feb 3, 2020Despite the sadness that clearly surrounds this project there is plenty of positivity: the production of the album is impeccable, and the overwhelming message that shines through is of hope for the future.
-
Jan 21, 2020His gruff vocals hold pain and weariness as he reflects on his struggles and challenges. Yet, however difficult it might be to ingest his candour, there is also a maturity about Miller in which to take solace. There's a sense of growth and lessons learned. These are the marks of a life well-lived, however short.
-
Jan 21, 2020He finds beauty and peace in allowing himself to experience his own emotions. It’s an honest, matter-of-fact account of the grey areas of his life and mind. On Circles, Mac shows the unexpected joy that can be found in the darkest of times.
-
Jan 17, 2020It’s a high-quality project, but we lost Mac way too soon, and that’s hard to accept. So while it’s hard to listen to him talking about self-deterioration and how he spends far too much time in his own head, it’s a privilege to hear him share his inner most thoughts over a bed of sweeping, inventive sonics. This is the album Mac Miller was born to make.
-
Jan 17, 2020Swimming hinted at an artist who’d finally cleared his mind and found his footing. Circles provides some resolution and helps finish Miller’s final thoughts.
-
Q MagazineJan 17, 2020Circles showed his music was reaching new heights. [Mar 2020, p.116]
-
Jan 30, 2020Mac’s sixth studio album is a surreal experience that’s filled with opaque contemplation and tragic connotations. ... Loneliness may be our greatest fear other than death. Mac was able to explicitly re-establish this idea through reflective songwriting and gentle crooning. His genius and thoughtfulness will always be remembered. “Circles” is a stark reminder of that.
-
Jan 17, 2020The album doesn’t possess the piercing introspection, precision or revelatory quality of Swimming, but of course, Miller wasn’t there to see it across the finish line. It serves as a fitting coda to his career.
-
Jan 21, 2020Where Circles succeeds, where it becomes a graceful and elegant piece of art rather than an experimental excursion, is in finding the perfect subject matter for its laidback meanderings. Quite simply, these songs are dispatches from a day in the life of Mac Miller.
-
Jan 17, 2020Miller’s lyrics possess a plainness that occasionally yields moments of heart-rending simplicity, but frequently wither into triteness and banality. Yet when his words fail him, his voice is able to communicate the pain more effectively.
-
Jan 17, 2020Through the album there’s a mesmerising rhythm, a kind of rocking horse motion that spurs you on to the next track. ... On Swimming he was adrift, searching for a lighthouse beam that would bring him back to “a place of comfort”. On Circles, it sounds as though – if only for the briefest of moments – he found it.
-
Jan 21, 2020If Swimming felt contemplative, Circles feels even more like a singer-songwriter album than a hip-hop joint – a tendency most likely amplified by Brion’s treatments.
-
Jan 17, 2020What this tight team does is turn “Circles” into an intimate daytime affair — a micro-boogie wonderland — as opposed to the midnight pool party of “Swimming.”
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 424 out of 511
-
Mixed: 25 out of 511
-
Negative: 62 out of 511
-
Jan 18, 2020Circles is the most beautiful album by Mac Miller. It's a piece of art. The production is so beautiful and mac should be proud in the heaven.
-
Jan 17, 2020Beautiful album & a perfect send off for Mac, Jon Brions production meshes with Mac fantastically.
-
Jan 17, 2020