Melanie Martinez
Portals

That the highly anticipated third album by Melanie Martinez would allude in its lyrics to her tumultuous personal experiences in recent years was entirely predictable; but the New York singer-songwriter delves deeper into her own abyss to create a mysterious alter ego that from the first trailers released a few months ago hinted well at the project's storyline.

Similarly to the ideas of her esteemed Björk adopted for recent releases (to be clear, the two artists have little to do with each other's musical choices), Martinez takes on the appearance of an alien-like creature emerging from a shell. In reality, as the album is released, it will become clearer that it is a rebirth from an alleged death. A sort of transformation from a human being to a superior being.

The parallel with death does indeed fit, and the record opens precisely with Death, revealing a very specific statement of intent: to continue loving a dear person despite their abandonment of life (which can specifically represent the abandonment of a social context).
Among the clearly autobiographical lyrics are the bad relational experiences in a quasi-alternative rock style of Evil and The Contortionist, which instead has a very theatrical pop arrangement and makes more use of metaphor.

Is it the best thing Martinez has produced to date? Certainly the most mature following the first two episodes focused, due to age, on dynamics tending towards the adolescent. Portals meets the expectations especially of those who come from the crowd of loyal fans who experienced Cry Baby and K-12 as an art pop manna from heaven (I refer to them as loyal and I don't think I'm exaggerating based on the palpable support the artist receives from her fandom).
The hype generated by this release was considerable, and I find myself halfway.

The aura of mystery is no longer needed when you end up with the most traditional track of the album, namely Light Shower (which also represents the ray of light amidst so much darkness). The lyrics are allusive at times and bold at others, but in some way, optimistic.

Before diving into Portals, it is necessary to keep in mind that these are songs written by a colorful and extravagant pop personality; to grasp the purest feelings, it is appropriate to accept the delirium that acts as a backdrop.