Duke alumnus Mike Posner titled his major-label debut album "31 Minutes To Take Off," which seems odd because it's a lot longer than 31 minutes long. But Posner did have something quite specific in mind when he picked that number.

"Something happens 31 minutes into the album," Posner said in a recent interview. "It's at the end of the song 'Synthesizer,' and the last couple of tracks after that tell the story. I can tell you that I and the listener will be in the highest space after that."

For the record, "Synthesizer" concludes with the sound of a jet plane taking off -- not unlike Posner's career right now, thanks to his top-10 single "Cooler Than Me." For more about Posner's collegiate past in the Triangle, check this interview from Tuesday's paper; and if you want to hear Posner's album, it's streaming here.