PORTALS

PORTALS 

Melanie Martinez, an American singer and songwriter, finally released her third studio album “Portals” on March 31st, 2023, after about three years of fans patiently waiting. Martinez first began her career in music when she rose to fame after being on the Voice, a singing reality competition, which gave her the chance to show off her talent and sign her very first record deal with Atlantic Records. Not only does Martinez sing and write music, she also directed and wrote her own musical film, “K-12”, of the same name for her second studio album.

About Portals 

In the United states, “Portals” debuted at No.2 on the billboard 200, becoming one of the first highest sales debuts of a female soloist in 2023. It also became Martinez’ highest charting album of her career. During an interview with People Magazine, Martinez stated “I have my next film planned out, as far as what I want to do, and the film after that. They both have albums attached to them.” After hearing this, it is confirmed that we will be getting a film for “Portals”, but it will be released a little later. Before the release of Martinez’ new album, she was posting teasers throughout the whole time leading up to it on her instagram. One of the teasers was showing a mushroom with “RIP CRYBABY” carved into the stem with one her singles that was released March 17th, 2023, which we all know as DEATH, behind the video. “Portals” consists of 13 tracks, but the deluxe version that was put out on April 5th, 2023, consists of 16 tracks.

The Melanie Martinez trilogy is a series of concept albums that tell a story of a four-eyed, big-cheeked character named Crybaby, and Portals happens to be the last album to that trilogy. The three albums all connect to show different stages of her life showing Crybabys evolution. She introduced the character with her first album, which moves through the growing pains of childhood with them. Then, in her second album, “K-12”, she uses a school as an analogy for life and the systems of power that our society continues to live under. In “Portals”, Crybaby has died and her spirit lives on in the cosmos. Martinez shows the immortality of the human spirit with this record, and also gives people hope that there’s life after death. 

Melanie Martinez | SpotifyOpinion 

Over the years, Melanie Martinez has really shown how much she has grown as a singer and songwriter, especially with her new album “Portals”. She’s able to connect with fans on a deep and personal level through her music, but also give us amazing songs to listen to and relate to as well. When I was listening to “Portals”, I couldn’t help but notice the transitions she made within each song. Each song smoothly transitions into the next track on the tracklist without you even realizing it. The transition between NYMPHOLOGY to EVIL was definitely my favorite. Ever since the release, the album has been the only thing that I’ve been listening to. You can find the album on Spotify, youtube, Apple Music, and anywhere else that music is available.