“HADES,” Melanie Martinez’s fourth studio album, is about Circle, a young woman who has turned from flesh to machine. In his attempt to escape the cult to save his mother’s life, he ends up in the Hades AI headquarters, forced to become a fake popstar to satisfy his mother’s last wish.
“HADES” also mentions Martinez. Dear Melanie stan, I am not jumping up and down for joy with my fingers in my ears going “la la la” because of all the obvious mistakes. As someone who loved his job, I am very disappointed.
To explain why, I first need to explain my relationship with his work.
I discovered Martinez the way many girls with iPads did, through anime girl nightcore videos; the type of music that accelerates with the image of a cool girl in the background. This was in 2016, right when he released his first album “Crybaby”. As a moody 9 year old, I was instantly hooked.
When he came back with his third studio album, “PORTALS,” an album centered around rebirth and second chances while leaving behind the one you don’t want to leave behind, I felt that my connection to his work deepened. Not only was I at this point in my life, I had also started to find my love for the fairies featured in the album. It also happened to come out on my birthday.
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However, after the tail of his success with “PORTALS” was also found a serious accusation of sexual harassment and one of his two public requests that were sent on the social platform X saying “he did not refuse what we chose to do together.” With that and a few other minor arguments never resolved, the whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth as I realized that my favorite words now seemed to be a wake-up call.
That is to say, “HADES,” at least for me, is complicated. I can honestly say that I don’t like it as much as the other albums he has released. But when I think about it, is it that this album is so different from what he released, or am I worried that it prevents me from seeing this album divorced from who he is?
Just from the length of the album, it was inevitable that some songs would not stand up. Every artist has his own scent, unfortunately I had to listen to it. It was really sad for me. The worst battle of all has to be “FRIENDS”.
I’m not sure how Martinez went from “MILK OF THE SIREN” of the last deluxe album – a song about restraint and the silencing of women that evokes pain and anger, to the watery death that stardom can give you – to “GRUDGES”. Which, of course, has the lyrics, “Ha, make me a machine I don’t give a f— f—ity, f—/f— f— flying machine.”
I just…I don’t know. Are we sure now? I think if Martinez was younger, I would have more sympathy for the type of writing that you can only find in the Hazbin Hotel song. But even Martinez’s album “CryBaby” that was released when he was 21 years old had clever writing and wordplay even on the weakest songs.
The song “POSSESSION,” the first single from the album’s teaser, is so sweet that it’s kind of like recreating Ashniko’s nachos without the sexual silliness. However, I think that the simplicity that Martinez carries with his voice along with the new directions he has taken on the instruments is very well done. I didn’t get any powerful or clever words, but they had a nice sound. I can come in later.
A few of the other songs also had an upbeat vibe, with Martinez on lead single “GARBAGE” having a nice weight to the lyrics. This is something I wish I could hear more often on the album. I believe this is very necessary when creating a new world for consumers. Most songs don’t enjoy having this padding, instead sounding empty.
Back to “The Principal,” a song about how Martinez found President Donald Trump, in his first term, as controlling and cruel as a corrupt principal, who worked with an album about going through a K-12 school. “SPIDER WEB,” a beautifully crafted song about how Martinez views phones as sticky bait ready to suck you up.
Instead of this lyric, if the song doesn’t have a light air to it, I just get that it sounds like Martinez is rushing to make an explanation, or talking about a problem in his post-COVID-19 pandemic career. But these issues are not what made long-time fans like me decide that they no longer support him, they are things that the singer has to endure.
With that, I am not only saddened by the decline of art, but also the lack of responsibility. This is not a job that my little one has anything to do with, and I’m sorry to say that I don’t think he’ll be coming back.
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