Mac Miller, Good News | Track Review 🎵

“Good News,” the promo single from the posthumous Mac Miller album, Circles, is well-produced, well-written, and hauntingly performed.

Sigh, it’s hard to believe that Mac Miller passed away September 7, 2018.  Quite a talented musician, his output during his short lifetime of 26 years was quite intriguing.  I’ll never forget being excited when his debut album, Blue Slide Park arrived back in 2011, bringing a youthful, fresh, and energetic personality into hip-hop.  Of course, he’d released mixtapes prior to that effort.  Miller is gone, but his legacy and music live on, along with a posthumous album, Circles (January 17, 2020).  Posthumous albums can be hit or miss, but apparently, Circles was in the works prior to his untimely death.  In advance of the posthumous affair, Miller released a spirited single, “Good News.”

From a production standpoint (Jon Brion co-produces with Mac Miller), “Good News” definitely sounds characteristic of Miller’s music.  His music often incorporated elements of East Coast hip-hop, soulful cues of Philly (he was from Pittsburgh), and jazzy elements.  The sound of “Good News” is quite refined, with synth pizzicato strings, a subtle, but highly effective, dusty drum groove, soulful electric guitar, and other modest keyboard/synthesizer touches.  All in all, it’s quite ear-catching, even if it sort of floats and opts for restraint as opposed to being dynamic.

Beyond the backdrop, Mac Miller is on-point – reflective to the nth degree. Clearly, he focuses on his state of mind as well as mistakes and flaws. “I spent the whole day in my head / Do a little spring cleanin’,” he raps on the first verse, continuing, “I’m always too busy dreamin’, yeah / Well, maybe I should wake up instead.” On the second verse, he asks, “Why I gotta build something beautiful just too go set in on fire?” Quite deep and incredibly relatable.   The third verse is quite chilling and eerie, with the key lyric, “There’s a whole lot more for me waitin’ on the other side…”  Of course, the centerpiece is the chorus:

“Good news, good news, good news
That’s all they wanna hear
No, they don’t like you when I’m down
But when I’m flying, oh
It make ‘em so uncomfortable
So different, what’s the difference.”

Final Thoughts

Despite running long (nearly six minutes), “Good News” is a fantastic posthumous record by Mac Miller – gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Listening to it, it saddens me knowing that he is no longer with us; he had so much to offer.  But the ‘good news’ is his music lives on, as aforementioned. “Good News” is well-produced, well-written, with its personal and reflective touches, and hauntingly performed.

Mac Miller • Circles • Warner • Release: 1.17.20

Photo Credit: Warner