Post Malone is a lesson in opposing forces. His childlike face is covered in tattoos, accompanied by a shy posture while prolifically producing some of the world’s biggest pop music. Some of his lyrics and arrangements feel like they are “good enough” until he hits you over the head with mammoth hooks undeniably ready for the stadium.
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And behind his mumbling, can’t-be-bothered vocal delivery is a technically diverse and powerful singer who is the kind of virtuoso who makes it all look too easy.
On Malone’s third studio album Hollywood’s Bleeding, he collaborated with Lil Baby, Ozzy Osbourne, Halsey, Travis Scott, and SZA to create an album full of immediate hits; they almost sound predestined to crush the charts. The diversity of his collaborators speaks to Malone’s impressive ability to turn any style of music into second nature.
“Circles” became one of the biggest songs of 2019, and everything mentioned above is distilled into a three-and-a-half-minute pop gem. The infectious hook hides behind a delicate, dreamy pop track where Malone’s voice is filtered through what sounds like a busted radio over an easy acoustic guitar. The combination of earthy acoustics and otherworldly radio transmission is the opposite attraction of Malone’s entire pop music career. His effortless songwriting is the magnet attracting billions (with a ‘B’) to listen to nearly everything he releases.
But “Circles” was far from easy, and it took a Los Angeles federal courtroom to deal with the controversy behind a quaint pop song built for a convertible driving down the Pacific Coast Highway.
Who Wrote It?
Post Malone recorded “Circles” with his producers Frank Dukes and Louis Bell and allegedly co-wrote the song with Tyler Armes. According to NME, Armes claimed he wrote the guitar melody and keyboard chords and gave input on what became the bass line. Armes claimed he and Malone held an all-night recording session in 2018, resulting in an eight-minute version of what eventually became “Circles.”
When Malone debuted the song in 2019, Armes wasn’t credited. He contacted Dukes and was offered a small share but instead filed a lawsuit after Malone’s manager stopped negotiations for a higher cut. Armes settled with Malone before the jury selection in 2023 for an undisclosed amount.
I Can’t Quit You
“Circles” follows a relationship going nowhere. The couple tries to “feed the flame,” too afraid to let go, though the tension doesn’t eclipse their anxiety over ending things.
The narrator opens by accepting responsibility for not being there for the other person, yet he wants her to be the one to act. Malone sings, I couldn’t be there / Even when I tried / You don’t believe it / We do this every time.
Seasons change, and our love went cold
Feed the flame ’cause we can’t let it go
Run away, but we’re running in circles
Run away, run away
Neither person wants to be at fault for the relationship’s failure, but the stalemate endures because no one will walk away. Paralyzed by the fear of regret, the couple soldiers on, and toxicity grows.
I dare you to do something
I’m waiting on you again
So I don’t take the blame
Run away, but we’re running in circles
Run away, run away, run away
A sunny acoustic guitar drives Malone’s soft-rock melancholy, and like the couple in the song, it just kept hanging around—breaking the record for the most time spent in the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Malone held the record until The Weeknd released “Blinding Lights” five months later.
“Circles” wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tame Impala album, where a Kevin Parker-inspired bass line drives the song over a beautiful chord progression with a tinge of psychedelia. The beat, too, sounds like a Parker groove creating an anthem out of a hopeless affair.
Summertime Blues
Malone isn’t the first songwriter to find a powerful connection in contradictions. “Circles” is made for people having a good time singing a hook about a couple living in misery. Maybe misery is constantly searching for company, and part of letting go and forgetting worries requires skirting responsibility, at least for a little while. Malone’s protagonist can’t break it off, so he dares his partner to do the dirty work.
Still, as frustrating as running in circles can be, the hopelessness of going nowhere isn’t enough to dismiss the fear of being alone. Living in misery with company gives an allusion to hope in despair, but being alone is solitary’s black smoke from a snuffed candle. Staying together, even miserably, is how Malone and his partner feed the flame, but what happens when the wick burns out?
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