Melanie Martinez - "Portals"
More delicious strangeness from Melanie Martinez
For all that it was a strange concept, I still think “Crybaby” is one of the best-conceived and -executed concept albums out there, especially outside of the metal sphere, where concept albums tend to be a bit more common. I never listened to her second album, though I’ve heard it was lackluster by comparison.
Now, Martinez brings us “Portals”, rife with transitional metaphor and fae imagery. The album also sits upon an inverted structure, like a pixie version of Benjamin Button, starting with a track labeled “Death”, and ending with “Womb”. Anybody who has ever done any literary analysis, ever, knows that’s a bright red indicator - “THE ARTIST IS DOING SOMETHING HERE”.
And album-opener, “Death”, is indeed doing several things, all at once - it plays into the transitional, coming and going, with:
Death
End of a relationship
Reversing the first with “I’m back from the dead”
The final also serves as foreshadowing for the remainder of the album, as “Womb” is, essentially, an elaborate metaphor for her rebirth after healing from the heartbreak. Everything in-between seems to be part of this journey, though I haven’t done all of the work required to analyze every song, if I’m being honest.
The album starts strong with its first three songs, but really hits its stride in the stretch between “Battle of the Larynx” and “Evil”. Each of these tracks are just phenomenal, though “The Contortionist” is incredibly uncomfortable. It honestly has to be, though, and I think the balance struck there is perfect.
The album isn’t without its missteps. The worst of these, I think, is found in “Nymphology”. As much as I think it’s one of the best-sounding tracks on the album, I feel Martinez did herself a disservice in falling back on the rhythmic spelling of “Nymphology” in the chorus and following it with “that spells ‘Nymphology’”. It was incredibly apt on “Crybaby”, but feels lazy AF here. It’s a missed opportunity for a more poignant line, IMO. I also really don’t enjoy the lyrics in “Womb”. Again, just uncomfortable, but doesn’t feel like it’s necessary to the point.
The strength of the album’s concept and the execution throughout guarantees this album an 8+ rating. I think there were too many missteps or weak points to go higher than blue, though.
Rating: Blue