Love Letter to a Record: L D R U on Mac Miller’s ‘Circles’

August 27, 2022

Music Feeds’ Love Letter to a Record series asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share stories about how the music they love has influenced their lives. Here L D R U’s Drew Carmody pens a love letter to one of his favourite records of all time, Mac Miller’s Circles (2020)

L D R U‘s latest release ‘The Excuse’ is the Sydney DJ and producer’s fifth single of 2022, following ‘Be There’, ‘Let You Go’, ‘Ride Through’ and ‘Basecamp’. Its release coincides with the announcement that L D R U has signed a global deal with Warner Music Australia.

L D R U’s Love Letter to Mac Miller’s Circles

Dear Malcolm, L D R U fans and Music Feeds,

So, I’ll try painting a little picture for you. I’d just finished building my home studio and my wife introduced me to this rapper named Mac Miller about six months prior. She was baffled I hadn’t heard of him – and so was I, to be honest. Anyway, she’s all hyped up one day that Mac had put out a new song called ‘Good News’.

You know that feeling when you hear a song for the first time and it feels like Jesus has just whispered into your ear, “Thank me later, you’re beautiful”? Well this is exactly what happened with ‘Good News’. I was completely obsessed. I played it before every meal, when I went on walks and before I’d go to sleep. You name a time/place to play music, ‘Good News’ was playing.

Mac Miller – ‘Good News’

I was so fascinated with Mac’s story that every time I listened, I would come up with a new meaning of what I thought the lyrics meant. Did this song have anything to do with his addiction? Does it sound so different to everything else he’s written because he wanted to sing more? I straight up couldn’t get enough. I showed every single one of my friends and family. How about that film clip too? Wow, that thing is also a masterpiece.

The rest of the album drops about a week later and boy it did not disappoint. From ‘Circles’ through to ‘Once a Day’, the whole record put me at peace and made me realise what the word “soothing” actually meant and felt like. Comfortable was an understatement every time I popped on headphones or blasted it out of my studio. From front to back, I couldn’t fault anything. It really is a masterpiece and always will be to my ears.

Thanks to everyone involved who made it happen. That record got me through some pretty rough times. Shortly after the album was released, I decided to try and fix my wrist but ended up having two pretty invasive surgeries, which knocked me around for a while. So, I am very grateful I had Circles to listen to on repeat whilst recovering. R.I.P. Mac Miller.