The estate of the late Mac Miller has released released his beloved 2014 mixtape, Faces, as an official album on major streaming services.
The release comes along with a Sam Balaban-directed mini-documentary about the creation of the project, Making Faces (A Short Film), featuring recordings of Miller and others who worked on the original project.
Faces was created and released without the backing of any sort of label or marketing. Originally issued for free on Mother’s Day 2014, it is now considered by many fans to be among Miller’s finest works due in large part to its psychedelic-jazz leanings and its darker lyrical themes dealing with addiction, death, and psychosis.
Mac Miller, who at the time was coming off a year of touring with no more shows on the schedule, set up shop at a red-lit home studio, dubbed “the Sanctuary,” where he adopted an open-door policy. His friends and fellow artists were invited to come through and create at all hours with no particular agenda. The long list of featured guests on the sprawling project—including ScHoolboy Q, Sir Michael Rocks, Thundercat, Earl Sweatshirt, Rick Ross, Mike Jones, and Vince Staples—reflects that freeform creative atmosphere.
Miller used the period to explore his own psyche through music and delve to a deeper layer of his artistic ambitions. In Making Faces, lead engineer Josh Berg credits the period for the development of Miller’s lauded production alter-ego, Larry Fisherman. Watch Making Faces (A Short Film) below.
Making Faces (A Short Film)
The Making Faces is the latest in a string of captivating promotional videos shared by Miller’s estate in the lead-up to the full release of Faces. Each of the album’s 25 tracks has been paired with new animated visuals from a variety of artists.
Last month, the Mac Miller estate also shared a surreal music video for Faces track “Colors and Shapes”. The video, directed by Sam Mason and produced by production company Hornet, follows a computer-animated version of Miller’s dog, Ralph, on a Through The Looking-Glass-type journey in his dreams as he interacts with the metaphorical characters illustrated in the song’s lyrics.
As Mason said in a statement, per Pitchfork, “The track felt very visual to me—like it had its own world. This atmospheric nighttime place that was sometimes dangerous, sometimes comforting, then I saw a picture of [Mac Miller’s dog] Ralph and a story emerged. To build it out I asked Malcolm’s family to send me bits and pieces from his childhood, scenes from the town where he grew up, objects, toys from his room—little pieces of his life that I extrapolated outwards and used to inspire the story.”
Added Mason, “In the abstract, it’s meant to be a video about childhood—growing up as an artist and the highs and lows of that experience. It’s sort of a look at the emotional and difficult and perilous but noble path of an artist.” Watch the “Colors and Shapes” video below.
Mac Miller – “Colors and Shapes” (Official Video)
Listen to Faces by Mac Miller on the streaming platform of your choice here or stream it via Spotify below.
Mac Miller – Faces – Full Album
The post Beloved Mac Miller Mixtape ‘Faces’ Released As Official Album Alongside ‘Making Faces’ Mini-Doc [Watch/Listen] appeared first on L4LM.
