REVIEW: Melanie Martinez – ‘Cry Baby’

Artist: Melanie Martinez
Album: Cry Baby
Label: Atlantic Records
Genre: Indie-Pop

Your Halloween spooks are coming a bit early this year with a touch of addictive pop and powerful lyrics thanks to Melanie Martinez. The Voice’s third place winner proved that she’s first place material after her breakout hit single “Carousel” gave chills to the audience of American Horror Story, following it up with her exceptional Dollhouse EP. Now that her debut concept album Cry Baby is out, we take a journey with Martinez’s creepy alter ego as she battles her demons and obsessions.

Before Cry Baby released, people were captivated by Martinez’s single “Dollhouse” and its penetrating music video; the two seemed to go hand in hand when telling its raw and revealing story of the demons of family life. The lyrics of “Mrs. Potato Head” hit home to most of today’s young generation and its beauty standards: “Don’t be dramatic it’s only some plastic / No one will love you if you’re unattractive.” Even “Pity Party” has a soft spot for the outsiders, as shown in her riveting music video that highlights the pain of having no friends. It’s an addicting feature of her music – every song has a story for you to conceptualize in your head and apply to your life. Everyone has a little bit of Cry Baby.

While capitalizing on her creative niche, she also uses her indie-pop style to find a place in the mainstream market. I can see songs like “Soap” take over the radio; the bubbly bass drop and slow, groovy melody are intoxicating. What makes Melanie Martinez’s haunting sound so fresh is that she keeps it consistent without making it cheesy or repetitive. The cool melodies disturbed by “possessed” vocals in “Tag, You’re It” hold a purely unique spot on the album, and the captivating “Pacify Her” reveals Martinez’s mission to get rid of the girl who’s in the way of Cry Baby’s crush (“That basic bitch leaves finally / now I can take her man”) – an eerily fantastic look inside the blunt intentions of this album.

Melanie Martinez’s methods of songwriting are expressional, passionate and marvelously creative. The haunted carnival-esque ambience of Cry Baby, all the way down to “Mad Hatter,” takes on a new form of indie-pop music that the world has been waiting to hear.

SCORE: 9.5/10

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3 Responses to “REVIEW: Melanie Martinez – ‘Cry Baby’”

  1. Niall B says:

    Agree 100%!

  2. ♫ Hime ♫ says:

    i think pitchfork needs to review this as well

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