Singer, songwriter, and season three The Voice contestant Melanie Martinez has officially arrived in 2023 with the third part of her Crybaby trilogy, PORTALS, and Audacy's Julia sat down with Melanie's spirit creature alter-ego to learn all about it.
"I'm very excited to be here and to just be in this era," Martinez tells Julia with her voice pitch-shifted and in full costume. "It's very fun for me to be in character and just to create art that I'm really proud of."
Martinez's PORTALS hit shelves and streaming services last month along with a complete merch line and now boasts an expanded deluxe version with added bonus tracks.
Billed as the final chapter of her Crybaby trilogy, which also includes the second part of the story, K-12, 2023's PORTALS, Melanie says, "is really the first album that I didn't outgrow really quickly. I'm still in it, I still feel really connected to it. I grow really fast," she laughs. "Literally every week I feel like a new person, and I'm just constantly trying to be better as a creative and a person who's learning new things."
"I think that with 'Crybaby' and 'K-12,' because they were very focused with childhood themes, I quickly obviously outgrew that resonance to that because I'm an adult," she adds. "A lot of it I was just growing out of really fast. With this album, it's the most connected I've ever felt to my music and I think I'm going to always feel connected to it because as a human I can relate to it just as someone who is immortal and just learning and growing through life."
"That's the whole message of the album," Melanie continues. "The theme is the afterlife -- going from death all the way to birth -- but really the messaging is about being interconnected with everyone in the world and how we're all just here to learn and grow from each other."
Melanie wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album; and for the first time, she co-produced a number of tracks and self-produced songs, including the first single, “VOID.”
"It's actually my favorite song," Melanie admits. "I've always been very vocal about what I want in production and working with producers very closely... but actually sitting down and being alone in a room and fully figuring out the track on your own is a completely different thing. It was very intimidating at first, but being able to do that just made me have this appreciation for the song that I don't think I have for the other ones because it's fully from me and from my heart."
"I love that this is the one that people are resonating with the most because, for me, it was very cathartic to make and to express my feelings of anxiety and dealing with that... feeling loneliness. And I love that it's being played on the radio because it can reach people who really need that messaging as well, who need that comfort in knowing that they're not alone in that feeling."
Melanie will be hitting the road with PORTALS this year, bringing the already out-of-this-world visual aspect of the release to live audiences.
Without giving away any spoilers, Melanie admits she's got some "fun things planned," that will bring the ethereal world she has so perfectly crafted to life.
Don't miss Julia's full chat with Melanie Martinez above, and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.
Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Julia
