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Circles
by
Circles Image
Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 14 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 511 Ratings

  • Summary: The sixth and final studio release for the rapper was completed with the help of Jon Brion.
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Good News
I spent the whole day in my head Do a little spring cleaning I'm always too busy dreaming Well, maybe I should wake up instead A lot of things I... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. The Independent (UK)
    Jan 17, 2020
    100
    Through 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.
  2. Exclaim
    Jan 21, 2020
    90
    His 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.
  3. Sputnikmusic
    Jan 21, 2020
    90
    Where 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.
  4. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jan 17, 2020
    80
    It’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.
  5. The Observer (UK)
    Jan 21, 2020
    80
    If 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.
  6. Q Magazine
    Jan 17, 2020
    80
    Circles showed his music was reaching new heights. [Mar 2020, p.116]
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  7. Rolling Stone
    Jan 17, 2020
    70
    The 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.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 124 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 139
  3. Negative: 11 out of 139
  1. Lucas_Santos
    Jan 18, 2020
    10
    Circles 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.
  2. diegomoontoya
    Feb 2, 2020
    10
    this album makes me cry and be a little sad, it is a great honor to have this work to remember Mac's life and be honored and recorded by allthis album makes me cry and be a little sad, it is a great honor to have this work to remember Mac's life and be honored and recorded by all generations.… Expand
  4. prettynikki
    Mar 1, 2021
    10
    This album is truly a masterpiece. Mac Miller has grown before our eyes. So many beautiful lyrics. This album has helped me through severeThis album is truly a masterpiece. Mac Miller has grown before our eyes. So many beautiful lyrics. This album has helped me through severe depression, we miss you easy mac with the cheesy raps. RIP… Expand
  5. Ruff_Ambassador
    Jan 17, 2020
    9
    It’s a very nice and calming album and a great ending album for Mac Miller’s discography, it’s very chill, atmospheric, and dreamy. betterIt’s a very nice and calming album and a great ending album for Mac Miller’s discography, it’s very chill, atmospheric, and dreamy. better than Swimming… Expand
  6. fifi3
    Jan 17, 2020
    9
    This album was really amazing to me. I was a bit concerned, it being a posthumous album and all. But Jon Brion and the everyone else involvedThis album was really amazing to me. I was a bit concerned, it being a posthumous album and all. But Jon Brion and the everyone else involved did Mac justice. This is equally live, calming; but more eclectic, experimental and almost indie-like than Swimming. The production is absolutely superb and the lyrics change from relatable, inspiring, and heartbreaking from track to track. The production and Mac's soulful performances feel like he delivered them from heaven for his fans one last time.

    At the end of the album it's bittersweet. The idea of 'Swimming', being that as long as you are swimming you can't drown. Now, he's reached a new level of inner peace: no longer is he swimming, barely keeping his head above water as waves come crashing down, but surfing above them. And then he passed. But his music lives on.    … Expand
  7. JakeWLovesRap
    Apr 2, 2020
    9
    The best ending we could have reasonably asked for. Mac builds off his unique sound on 'Swimming' and really gives his best vocals of hisThe best ending we could have reasonably asked for. Mac builds off his unique sound on 'Swimming' and really gives his best vocals of his career. Packed with heartfelt songs and some spots to let you know that Mac could still rap. Beautiful album that I think will be looked at as Mac's masterpiece one day.… Expand
  8. Dt8301
    Jan 29, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Meh maybe he should of made a rock album cause rap was really never his thing kind of a whack album… Expand

See all 139 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

82
#82 Best Album of 2020
26
#26 Most Discussed Album of 2020

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