Written by: Oliver Heffron
Released a decade after the album was conceived, Balloonerism gifts Mac Miller fans a fully realized project that tells a critical part of his story. Over six years since his tragic passing and five since his first posthumous release, Circles, the new release takes us back into the midst of Miller’s experimental peak and parallel struggles with drug addiction to share a melodic, dreamy, and vivid missing chapter from the Pittsburgh legend’s discography.
Created during his psychedelic Larry Fisherman era–where it felt like he was most embodying a character from a Kurt Vonnegut novel while spewing visceral imagery reminiscent of a Bukowski poem–Balloonerism displays what made Mac Miller special: his gift for grounding visceral depictions of pain, existential dread, and addiction with imaginative production and a kind, poetic perspective.
With his alter-ego Larry Fisherman producing every track, with help from the genius bass playing of Thundercat on what feels like every other track, Balloonerism creates surreal textures of organs, keys, bass, and dusty percussion. Miller floats atop these instrumentals, showing off his knack for making melodies feel effortless while still rough around the edges. It embeds the album with an aimless, drifting feeling that contrasts its incisive songwriting that comes face-to-face with the depths of his addiction.
Recorded around the time of his highly-acclaimed FACES mixtape, Ballonerism bridges the gap between Mac Miller’s psychedelic hip-hop era that started with Watching Movies With The Sound Off and the latter cinematic singer-songwriting of Swimming and Circles, his first posthumous album. Suppose FACES was the depths of that psychedelic malaise. In that case, Ballonerism feels like, fittingly, a determined, resilient rise through the depths of that narcotic, surreal despair as Miller’s burgeoning talent for songwriting and singing starts to take center stage over textured, strange Larry Fisherman production.
Following the “Tambourine Dream” rhythmic intro, “DJ’s Chord Organ” eases into the album with a 2 ½ minute instrumental intro built upon wonky organ chords before SZA steals the show for the track’s sole verse. On the sweet-yet-haunting “Do You Have A Destination?” Miller formally introduces himself with a laidback delivery of hair-raising bars like “I gave my life to this shit, already killed myself,” over massive drums, ethereal keys, and Thundercat bass.
The Jazzy electric piano laid-back bass groove of “5 Dollar Pony Ride” depicts a bittersweet love song that questions what happened to an aimless past love, while the aptly-titled “Mrs. Deborah Downer” sees Miller confront the ugly receipt for his addictions: “What you gonna do when the money comin’ slow?” The upbeat, infectious hook on “Stoned” is a blissful moment that calls back to Miller’s initial Blue Slide Park era.
“Shangri-La” sees Mac tap into his lyrical the deepest with a dizzying display over drozy, nocturnal synth chords. After a charming intro of Miller doing a British accident imploring someone to dance, “Funny Papers” stuns with gorgeous instrumentation and the album’s most sentimental, poetic songwriting about different visions of life wrapped in one glancing perspective.
A fully finished album conceived years before the artist’s passing, Balloonerism far exceeds the expectations for posthumous releases, delivering an album that changes Mac Miller’s legacy forever for the better.