Mac Miller’s posthumous album ‘Circles’ will be released on January 17.
The late rapper – whose real name was Malcolm McCormick – passed away in September 2018 at the age of 26 as a result of mixed drugs toxicity, and just over a year after his death, his family have announced they will be releasing the music he was working on before he died.
Miller’s family have stated he envisioned the upcoming album, titled ‘Circles’, as a "companion album" to his 2018 release ‘Swimming’, and explained the tracks have been finished by producer Jon Brion, whom Miller was working with on the album prior to his death.
In a lengthy note posted to Miller’s Instagram account, his family wrote: "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. (sic)"
The family then went on to state that deciding to release the work has been a tough decision.
They added: "This is a complicated process that has no right answer. No clear path. We simply know that it was important to Malcolm for the world to hear it. One of the most difficult decisions in the process is how best to let people know about it – how to communicate meaningfully while keeping sacred what should be kept sacred. So this will be the only post on any of his channels. Information regarding this release, his charity, and Malcolm himself will be found at @92tilinfinity.
"Thank you to all the fans who’ve supported him unconditionally through the years. We miss him. We are left to imagine where Malcolm was going and to appreciate where he was. We hope you take the time to listen. The look on his face when everyone was listening said it all.
"With humility and gratitude. Malcolm’s family (sic)"