In our generation, Melanie Martinez has to be one of the best musical artists out there, and her album “PORTALS” is her best work to date, can you name any better ones?

Martinez has a very unique style when it comes to her music, and every song from hers that you listen to is completely different from another. 

Martinez started on the Voice, which set off her career. After the Voice, she started putting out music and created her first album “Crybaby”.

“PORTALS” is completely different than her past albums, and I personally think that it is her best album so far. 

“Crybaby” is Martinez’s first album with popular songs like “Playdate” and “Pacify Her”. The album tells the story of a girl named Crybaby and her childhood. Crybaby is the character Martinez plays in her albums and in the movie “K-12”. “K-12” follows Crybaby’s life as she goes to school.

As the story goes on, you discover that Crybaby is immortal and has had many lives before, and this is just one of them. After she leaves K-12, she is met with a portal. This portal takes Crybaby to her next life. This is what transports us to the album “PORTALS”. 

One thing I absolutely love about her songs is that a lot of them have very deep meanings, but Martinez hides them behind childlike or school-like themes. This is something that I’ve never seen another artist do before, and it is a very creative way to promote her works. 

In “PORTALS” this is the case as well, but instead of hiding themes in a childlike and ‘schoolike’ style, this time, it’s hidden under mythical or nature-based styles. 

But what makes “PORTALS” better than Martinez’s past albums? That brings me to the first topic, growth. “K-12” and “PORTALS” have a 4-year gap in between them in which Martinez has grown immensely. She had almost felt stuck with the Crybaby character she created when she was 19, and this album really shows how much she has grown.  

You can tell that she has ended the Crybaby story with her first single from “PORTALS”, “DEATH”. 

Martinez was reading a lot of past life regression books which inspired her to make this album, and it is seen in the themes throughout the album portraying life and death. “DEATH” discuses both the metaphorical and literal sides of death as a concept. This marks the end of Crybaby’s story, and this begins her next new life. 

I’m happy that she can move on from the Crybaby era and is able to feel comfortable creating something new, which is one reason why this album truly is superior.

Okay, is that it? Absolutely not! Dedication! She literally directed a MOVIE! Martinez is VERY dedicated to this because she created a completely new character, a pink 4-eyed big-eared fairy creature, rather than keeping up with the same persona she used to use. 

This is not too surprising because in an interview at the K-12 premiere Martinez said, ¨Crybaby is going to grow and evolve as a being.¨

I wasn’t very phased by that at first until later on when I realized what she meant by that. As of now, no one really knows what the pink creature is or what it is called but it definitely screams “Melanie Martinez”. 

On the topic of dedication, whenever Martinez is in public she is dressed up like the creature, and quite recently on her birthday, April 28, she posted a TikTok of her as the pink creature in order to celebrate.

Next, let’s talk about the songs themselves. The songs on this album are chef’s kiss. In fact, 8 out of 10 of Martinez’s top songs are from “PORTALS”. There isn’t a single bad song on the album. Not to mention the transitions at the end of each of her songs are impeccable. There is a verysmooth transition to the next song and it makes it more enjoyable to listen to as whole. Especially the rap part between “NYMPHOLOGY” and “EVIL”. Martinez shows a fantastic attention to detail.

The album also goes into a loop at the end of “WOMB”, the last song on the album. 

It repeats, “Life is death is life is death is death is life…” then “Death is life is death is life…” starts at the beginning of her first song of the album “DEATH”, creating the perfect loop. 

Some people have also been saying “WOMB” transitions to the first song of the album “Crybaby”, theorizing that all three albums are one big loop.

I truly believe PORTALS to be Martinez’s best album, and everyone should listen to this masterpiece that she has spent years creating!