Mac Miller's posthumous album will be released next week

A new album from the late Mac Miller, entitled Circles, will be released next week.

The family of the rapper, who passed away in September of 2018, revealed in an Instagram statement that the record was a "companion" to the critically acclaimed Swimming, which debuted a month before his death.

Miller reportedly began work on Circles with Swimming collaborator, Jon Brion, who went onto complete the posthumous LP.

Credit: PA

Read the statement below:

"Here we are. The act of having to write this at all feels surreal. At the time of his passing, Malcolm was well into the process of recording his companion album to Swimming entitled Circles. Two different styles complementing each other, completing a circle. Swimming in Circles was the concept. He had been working with Jon Brion, who after hearing some early versions of songs, cleared his calendar to help Malcolm fine-tune them. After his passing, Jon dedicated himself to finishing Circles based on his time and conversations with Malcolm. We are eternally grateful to Jon and to those who gave their best to the difficult and emotional task of putting out this body of work.

This is a complicated process that has no right answer. No clear path. We simply know that it was important to Malcolm for the world to hear it. One of the most difficult decisions in the process is how best to let people know about it, how to communicate meaningfully while keeping sacred what should be kept sacred. So this will be the only post on any of his channels. Information regarding this release, his charity, and Malcolm himself will be found at @92tilinfinity. Thank you to all the fans who've supported him unconditionally through the years. We miss him. We are left to imagine where Malcolm was going and to appreciate where he was. We hope you take the time to listen. The look on his face when everyone was listening said it all.

With humility and gratitude, Malcolm's family."

The Instagram post also revealed the cover art for Circles.
Swimming was later nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album after the 26-year-old's death.