Melanie Martinez Releases, “DEATH.”
Alt-pop worldbuilder Melanie Martinez returns today with “DEATH,” the lead single off her anticipated third album, PORTALS. Last month, the singer-songwriter teased the LP with a pair of Instagram posts that seemed to signal the death of Cry Baby—her alter ego on the albums Cry Baby (2015) and K-12 (2019)—and the emergence of a new character, a four-eyed pink creature that hatches from an egg. Check out the full track below!
“Portals screams death is life is death is life is death is life,” Martinez said in a press release about the album. “A continuous loop. A circle.” That seems to be the central message behind “DEATH,” a theatrical five-minute art-pop journey with a tranquil opening that eventually gives way to pounding drums on the chorus. Martinez wrote the song and produced it alongside CJ Baran, whose list of credits includes Panic! At the Disco, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Britney Spears.
Melanie Martinez Goes Viral
Martinez lifted the curtain on PORTALS last month with an instantly viral TikTok video, with teasers now reaching 115 MILLION views across social. The cryptic clips confirmed the death of her notorious alter-ego “Cry Baby,” last seen considering whether to walk into the light at the beguiling conclusion of 2019’s internationally acclaimed full-length film, K-12. Further teasing has been led by top fan pages around the world receiving a white chocolate “egg” in the mail to hatch, each containing a separate flash drive with an audio snippet of an untitled track off the forthcoming album. Fans have downloaded each song and leaked it online, fueling the pandemonium and anticipation.
PORTALS marks the 27-year-old NYC-born singer-songwriter-filmmaker’s first full-length release in nearly four years following her 2 billion-streaming, RIAA Gold-certified second album, K-12, which proved a sensation upon its September 2019 release, entering the Billboard 200 at #3 – Martinez’s highest chart placement thus far – with further debuts at #1 on the Alternative album chart, and #1 on the Soundtrack album chart.
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