Over a decade after its initial creation in 2014 and seven years after Mac Miller’s tragic death in 2018, Miller’s second posthumous and seventh studio album “Balloonerism” released Friday. Across its 58-minute long runtime, “Balloonerism” revels in heavy bass instrumentals, sonically ranging from funky jazz-inspired piano tracks to hazy and slow sounds of contemplation. It is a pensive listening experience that provides more of what Miller has excelled at in his discography while also remaining distinct from previous albums.
In relation to posthumous releases, concerns of authenticity are often raised, and questions about what the artist’s true vision would have been always linger. According to a statement from Miller’s estate, in contrast, the project’s eventual release was frequently discussed and extremely important to him, especially considering he had the artwork for the album commissioned in August of 2018.
The album’s window into Miller’s 2014 psyche offers something fresh and exciting to fans who have endured a five-year wait since his first posthumous album, 2020’s “Circles.” Certain parts of the album had been leaked and circulating online years before its recent release, making the wait for its official release all the more tantalizing.
Substance abuse, flawed romantic relationships and questions of death are throughlines in Miller’s discography as a whole, and “Balloonerism” absolutely follows that same trend.
Track two, “DJ’s Chord Organ,” featuring SZA notably early in her career, is a euphoric and psychedelic standout. The lofty organ chords under the harmony of Thundercat and SZA’s vocals are chilling.
Another standout, track 13, “Rick’s Piano,” was born from a summer of sobriety for Miller himself, in a period of recovery from a particularly depressive state. After contacting music producer Rick Rubin out of the blue, Miller got to work in Rubin’s studio, dubbed the “Shangri-La” — which is also the title of track eight — to craft this reflective track. He was particularly enthralled with Rubin’s keyboard, hence the title of “Rick’s Piano.” In his state of sobriety, Miller uses the song to question his idea of death, and if it is something worth stressing over.
Explicitly asking “What does death feel like?” on the track’s long chorus, the song is another example of his lyrics becoming hauntingly prescient in light of his early passing. Backing the heavy subject matter is a mix of steady drums, soothing guitar strings and a rather bittersweet piano tune.
At the same time, many tracks on “Balloonerism” allude to darker psychological states. The album’s outro “Tomorrow Will Never Know,” for example, is languid and dream-like, with Miller slowly dragging his introspective vocals over layers of ambience and melancholic synths. Atop nostalgic sampled background noise of children yelling and laughing, Miller lyrically conveys just how much he wishes to travel back into his early youth and avoid addiction.
“If you could make it go away / Give you a chance to start all over” echo as the album’s final lyrics. The remaining seven minutes of the project haunt listeners with heavy drums, no vocals and a phone call going unanswered. The track remains abstract and harrowing throughout, but is most impactful in its conclusion.
Several tracks fall into that same characterization, where they are certainly captivating pieces of music but feel out of place when listened to outside of the album’s context. Listening to these songs on their own can be confusing. Track 11 “Transformations,” for example, is a foggy back-and-forth exchange between Miller and his musical alter ego “Delusional Thomas,” who appears on several of his other works. With strange pitched-up vocals and off-kilter lyrics, the track feels like an auditory drug-induced state of confusion.
In 2014, there was a clear effort to establish Miller’s versatility in hip-hop, with not only unique creative production decisions, but experiments with other forms of media. Alongside the album’s release, a 24-minute animated short film by the same name of “Balloonerism” was released on Prime Video. Tying in much of the album as the score, the short follows a group of young schoolchildren who pass through a portal opened up by a chord organ descended from the sky. Transformed into animated animals by the organ’s tune, they venture into an eccentric underworld where they face the shadows of adulthood.
Story-wise, the short is most poignantly connected to track 10, “Excelsior.” On this track, Miller describes the playground dynamics between the main cast of children, reminiscing on his boyhood wonder and innocence to question where it has gone.
Every second of the brief 24-minute runtime is packed with Miller’s iconography — like references to his hometown Pittsburgh and his album covers — with stunningly beautiful surrealist animation. From the light-hearted and naive beginnings shown in his 2010 mixtape “K.I.D.S.” to the scramble against aging and time in 2018’s “Swimming,” the short encapsulates so much of what made MIller’s music garner so many fans.
“Balloonerism,” is a nostalgic, impactful and somber project — and fans will be grateful that it has been officially released after its creation 11 years ago. The album is not as mainstream and digestible as his later works like 2018’s “Swimming” and 2020’s “Circles,” or as exciting as earlier mixtapes like 2010’s “K.I.D.S.” and 2011’s “Best Day Ever.” Nevertheless, “Balloonerism” separates itself from the rest of his discography more than enough to justify its posthumous release, offering fans an auditory and lyrical insight into the unanswerable questions that filled the artist’s mind.
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