on 2xLP White Vinyl

Balloonerism is a long-shelved album by late rapper/singer/producer Mac Miller, recorded in 2014 around the same time he was working on his mixtape Faces. At this point in Miller's career, he had moved from the shiny, hyper-produced commercial rap of earlier releases like his 2011 album Blue Slide Park, and had been experimenting with jazzy, slightly psychedelic songwriting while writing lyrics that were increasingly emotionally vulnerable. He would grow more into both facets of this evolution, reaching an apex on his painfully beautiful 2018 album Swimming, which was released just weeks before his death. Balloonerism is a less toiled-over articulation of many of the ideas Miller would refine on some of his best-loved work, resulting in an album that somehow feels both carefree and on the brink of implosion. The carefree element here comes from the ease with which he approaches unlikely production choices and uneasy sounds. "DJ's Chord Organ" is almost more of a sound collage than a song for its first few minutes, stacking vocal harmonies on top of soft organ chords. At about the midway point, SZA comes in with a strutting verse over a circusy organ riff sampled from a Daniel Johnston song. Thundercat contributes roughly half of the album's 14 tracks, his fluid bass lines adding mellow sparkle to jazzy, groove-heavy vocal tunes like "5 Dollar Pony Rides" and buffering the enormous drums of rap tracks like "Funny Papers." Squeamish synths and explosive, dubby percussion hits sit way in the background of "Friendly Hallucinations," and "Stoned" mixes ambient textures with heavily processed drum loops and nostalgic surf rock guitar leads, all of this adding to the woozy, dreamlike quality that serves as a foundation for most of Balloonerism. Miller references drug dependency, mental health struggles, and existential angst in many of the tunes, but in a way so relaxed and easygoing that the cameo from his pitch-shifted horrorcore alter ego Delusional Thomas on "Transformations" doesn't feel jarring beside more serious songs made up of heavenly harp samples and wistfully beautiful piano loops. Balloonerism isn't Miller's best, most consistent, or even most experimental work, but it offers a previously unseen chapter in his evolution as an artist and shows clear pathways to what followed. More than anything, this high-quality album -- shelved for over a decade and released as Miller's second posthumous demo, following 2020's Circles -- leads us to question what other unknown gems Miller completed and kept to himself during his all-too-short artistic journey.

A1    Mac Miller, SZA–    The Song That Changed Everything
A2    Mac Miller–    Tambourine Dream
A3    Mac Miller–    Do You Have A Destination?
A4    Mac Miller–    Mrs. Deborah Downer
A5    Mac Miller–    Stoned
A6    Mac Miller–    Colors And Shapes (OG)
B1    Mac Miller–    Excelsior
B2    Mac Miller–    Friendly Hallucinations
B3    Mac Miller–    Funny Papers
B4    Mac Miller, Dylan Reynolds–    Manakins
B5    Mac Miller–    He Finally Sleeps
B6    Mac Miller, Delusional Thomas–    Transformations
C1    Mac Miller–    Oracle (OG)
C2    Mac Miller–    Smile (OG)
C3    Mac Miller–    Tomorrow Will Never Know
C4    Mac Miller–    God Speed
C5    Mac Miller, Sia–    That's Life
D1    Mac Miller–    Are We There Yet?
D2    Mac Miller–    $5 Pony Rides
D3    Mac Miller–    Bob's Dementia
D4    Mac Miller–    Pure (Remix)
D5    Mac Miller–    G Wagon (Extended Version)
D6    Mac Miller–    Uber (OG)