The art of the album closer.
What is The Run Out Grooves? I’m Mitchell Stirling. By day, I’m an aviation consultant; by night, I’m a music writer obsessing over structure.
The Run Out Grooves is a weekly publication dedicated to one specific thing: the final track on an album. Why is it there? What is it doing? And how does it reframe, or reinforce, everything that came before it?
Since launching in 2021, I’ve covered over 250 closers, blending reporting, production history, and cultural context. The archive ranges from the canonical (The Beatles’ ‘A Day in the Life’, Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’, David Bowie’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’, The Rolling Stones’ ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want', and Led Zeppelin’s ‘When The Levee Breaks’) to the cult (Teenage Fanclub’s ‘Is This Music?’, Roy Harper’s ‘When an Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease’, John Shuttleworth’s ‘Pigeons In Flight’).
These pieces mix reporting, context, and personal history, with an eye (and ear) on what these endings say about the album, the artist, and the era.
Why subscribe? Join a community of over 1,200 music fans, writers, and industry professionals.
Weekly Essays: One deep dive every Sunday.
The Archive: Fully open and searchable access to 4+ years of essays.
Special Editions: Interviews (Field Music, Polyphonic), genre deep-dives, and our “Decade” reader polls - 1990s Reader’s Poll
Acclaim & Community
1,200+ Subscribers / 2,500+ Followers across platforms.
Substack Featured Publication (2021 & 2022).
As Featured In: Popbitch.
Recommended By: Over two dozen publications, including fellow music writers Kevin Alexander, Brad Kyle, Chris Dalla Riva and Jeremy Shatan.
Where to start? If you are new here, these editions capture the spirit of the project:
The Welcome to Jazz Club, Nice! Miles Davis - “Flamenco Sketches’
The Folky Lament Nick Drake - ‘Saturday Sun’
The Comedy Closer Monty Python - ‘Look on the Bright Side of Life (All Things Dull and Ugly)’
The Post-Punk Epic Joy Division - ‘Decades’
The Trip Hop Torch Song Portishead - ‘Glory Box’
The Sunday Morning Comedown The XX - ‘Stars’
The Hip-Hop Magnum Opus Kanye West - ‘Lost In The World’/’Who Will Survive In America’
The Mid-Pandemic Scream Phoebe Bridgers - ‘I Know The End’
The Reader’s Favourite: Iron Maiden - ‘Rime of The Ancient Mariner’
Elsewhere
Bluesky: [at]mitchellst.bsky.social
Email: therunoutgrooves[at]gmail[dot]com (tips, corrections, ideas welcome)
What’s next?
I am currently working on an adaptation of The Run Out Grooves for book form. In the meantime, I have a full slate of weekly posts mapped out well into 2028. We’re nowhere near the run-out groove yet.
