The crybaby girl, marginalized by others because of her fragility, protagonist of the debut album “Cry baby” – a black fairy tale set in a surreal world – is lost. She was kidnapped, they say. Not from the black wolves of “Milk and cookies”, one of the songs contained in the 2015 album, but by aliens. Who have turned her into one of them: one creepy, monstrous, deformed creaturewhich presents itself to the world coming out of a large egg deposited in a dark and gloomy forest, covered in a disgusting liquid. Melanie Martinezis back to remind us that she remains one of the most alternative and extravagant pop stars of her generation: new album out on friday
portals”, a concept with which the American singer-songwriter of “Dollhouse”, the hit that in 2014 catapulted her to the top of the international charts (today reached 363 million views for the official video on YouTube and 331.2 million listens on Spotify), considered acult artist who acted as a link between the old generation pop stars and those of the new, a new alter-ego is created. Continuing in his own way to surprise.
To the bedroom lo-fi pop of “Cry baby” and “K-12”, anticipator of the style of Billie Eilish (who cited Melanie Martinez among her references already in 2017, when her name had already begun to circulate, thanks to pieces such as “Ocean eyes” and “Bellyache”), this time the former Tumblr girl launched by the US edition of “The Voice” – which has passed the milestone of 10 billion global streams and 4 billion official views on YouTube – prefer a more sophisticated, elaborate sound universe, in line with its new image. That someone will remember Bjorkmore than Lorde: “‘Portals’ screams death, it’s life, it’s death, it’s life, it’s death, it’s life. A continuous cycle. A circle”, she limits herself to saying speaking of the concept, with which she confirms that she is a pop freak. That she doesn’t seek success at all costs: she waits for him to arrive.
Like when in 2020, who knows how, its “Play dates” he became viral thanks to TikTok, totaling over a billion streams in total worldwide, surprisingly unseating “Dollhouse” from the top 3 of his hits. “Instead of relying on hooks designed specifically for the top 40, Melanie Martinez found her space by combining dark alt-pop, vulnerable storytelling, and surprising audiovisual ideas.”wrote the US magazine Billboard in 2017, when the album “Cry baby” passed the milestone of two years spent in the best-selling chart in the States.
A definition that continues to apply even after six years. Just listen to the single that Melanie Martinez has chosen to anticipate the album, “Death”: a five-minute piece, unlabellable, between strings, electronics, industrial, with a refrain-non-refrain. The song marked the return of Cirstopher Baran, who co-produced “Cry baby” (and over the years has worked with – among others – Panic! At The Disco, Simple Plan and Mika), alongside Melanie Martinez. Alone an anticipation of what the world of “Portals” will be like, which promises to be even more surreal than that of “Cry baby” and “K-12”: “My overall mission, ever since I was fourteen, was to write music that could help people heal.
Music is like therapy for me, so I wanted it to be for other people as well. I couldn’t be more grateful than that, really,” she says.