She’s “back from the dead”: Melanie Martinez!
@littlebodybigheart instagram
Melanie Martinez released an official teaser for her upcoming studio album, Portals, on February 18, 2023. Her teaser debuts a completely new look and visuals, which are less cute. Her fans have mixed feelings about her new look, while others who aren’t familiar with Melanie are wondering who exactly she even is.
Melanie Martinez is an American singer and songwriter who has been active since 2012. She first began her career at age sixteen on the singing television series The Voice, where she auditioned with the song “Toxic” by Britany Spears. She placed top six before being eliminated, and after the show, she released her first solo piece, “Dollhouse,” on May 19, 2014. This was her first extended play (EP), and it reached number four on the charts. Her next piece was her official debut album, Crybaby, released on August 14, 2015. Crybaby was also her breakout album and saw her popularity soar.
She didn’t release a new album until four years later, which was a scare for fans. Melanie made it up to them when she revealed she would be directing and starring in a film where her second album, K-12, would be coming from. She played the main character, Crybaby, who partnered with her best friend, Angelita (Emma Harvey), to try and take down their abusive school system. This was released on September 13, 2019, and has garnered 105 million views over the past three years. On September 25, 2020, she released another EP connected to the K-12 era called Afterschool. Over her whole music career, Melanie has been nominated for eight awards and won three of them. In 2016, she won the Alternative or Indie Recording of the Year for the Music Society Awards for her song “Soap” and Alternative or Indie Album of the Year for “Crybaby” that same year. In 2017, she won Female Artist of the year at the Music Society Awards.
Melanie hasn’t released any music in three years, which explains why fans (including me) have been so excited about her new album. Melanie Martinez’s latest piece is set to release on March 31st. Her first teaser of the album was posted on her Instagram, @littlebodybrainheart. In the short video, you can see a gloomy forest with fog, and soon the mist reveals writing on a
giant mushroom saying, “RIP, Crybaby.”
The teasers she released next all revolved around the concept of birth: a pink embryo with four eyes and large ears, a giant egg with a more prominent pink embryo inside, all set in the same gloomy forest as the first teaser. This sent a message to her fans that she was, unfortunately, really done with her Crybaby era/storyline, as she announced at the last concert of her K-12 tour, but some fans didn’t believe her. However, they do think that with the death of Crybaby comes the birth of her Portals era. So, even though fans are sad about the supposed death of Crybaby, many are happy a new era is soon to come.
Melanie Martinez’s music can be streamed on any music platform. Her social media platforms are always open if you want to learn more about her! Here is a list.
Giovanna Lopez is a freshman at GALA. It's her first time working in the journalism elective and is currently a photographer for The Echo. Her goal for...
