The wait is finally over! After four quiet years Alternative musician Melanie Martinez released her newest single, “DEATH”, on March 16th. This serves to as a teaser for her upcoming album titled PORTALS is set to release on March 31st.
The announcement for PORTALS from Melanie and her team back in February came as a shock for fans. After taking a four year hiatus from releasing music, many fans wondered if she would ever make her return. In true artist fashion, this announcement was delivered more like a set of clues via social media. Specifically TikTok and Twitter were filled with animated teasers and visual snippets from the album to come.
But this album feels different from anything she has made before. According to Martinez, PORTALS is meant to be the death of her Cry Baby alter ego. She stated in an anonymous press statement, “PORTALS screams death is life is death is life.”
“PORTALS screams death is life is death is life”
-Melanie Martinez in an anonymous press statement
CLEARLY FANS HAVE BEEN DYING FOR THIS
Martinez took fans by surprise and gave some concrete evidence that her album was on the way. On March 15, 2023 by announcing that the single would be available for streaming by Friday. I scoured Twitter for fan reactions and the general consensus around “DEATH” was surprisingly joy! Martinez return to music is heavily anticipated, as she took a four-year hiatus after her K-12 visual album and After School EP. Her Twitter fandom refers to themsleves as “Cry Babies”, made sure to keep Martinez trending. Tags included ‘DEATH IS COMING’, ‘STREAM DEATH 3/17’, and ‘MELANIE MARTINEZ IS COMING’.
A small majority of fans were skeptical about the eccentric style of PORTALS. Some believe that Martinez has lost touch with her previous style. Her earlier albums paid homage to the 1950s through costumes and background designs in music videos. PORTALS seems to take a different approach, featuring Cry Baby’s grave and a pink alien-like creature emerging from an egg. “DEATH” has already reached impressive numbers, with 50K listens on Spotify and over 958K views on YouTube.
MY THOUGHTS ON “DEATH”
As a Melanie Martinez fan, I was very excited to hear the first full song off the PORTALS album, and it did not disappoint. “DEATH” was a great way for Martinez to make her comeback. This song was made to grab the listener’s attention with its impactful lyrics. The words seem like a direct message to her fans. As many doubted that she would ever make a return after K-12. But as she says in her pre-chorus, “Immortal by design, I’ll be meetin’ you here every time.” She is back and she is not leaving any time soon. The instrumentals carry their own charm as well, with the introduction gently pulling the listener in before blasting them with intense bass and synthesizers.
The message of the song is simple, yet it gets its point across in Melanie Martinez’s own unique way. She is entering a new era of her music career and is taking all of us along for the ride. I and many other fans cannot wait for the full album release.
WHERE CAN I SEE “DEATH” LIVE?
If you liked what you saw and heard from the new album so far, there will be a few opportunities to see the new material live. Martinez announced her South American festival run, which will take place from March 17th to March 26th. The location tours include Santiago, Chile; San Isidro, Argentina; Bogota, Columbia; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. More information about the festivals and ticket purchases is available on melaniemartinezmusic.com. This will be her first tour since her 2019 K-12 tour that was cancelled mid-way due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melanie Martinez's 'DEATH' single, as part of her PORTALS album releasing on March 31, 2023.
