Welcome Back 2016, Melanie Martinez’s Released a New Single POSSESSION

by Samantha Jo Rosson

Melanie Martinez has run the paste/goth/lolita/weird-girl core scene since her 2014 EP “Dollhouse”, solidifying her influence on the genre and concept albums in general. Martinez announced the official end of her character Crybaby’s storyline with her 2023 album PORTALS. In lue of Crybaby’s death, Martinez shared her excitement of her new double-album HADES, which was recently announced to be released March 27th. Melanie Martinez released one single, POSSESION, to tease her new album.

And if you ask me, this song missed the mark.

Melanie has proven to be such an amazing storyteller throughout her past releases. Even if you don’t like her music or find her imagery and prescribed aesthetic disturbing or controversial, we can’t deny that Melanie really knows how to paint a picture. Look at the entirety of the crybaby album. Every part of the album has such a distinct, cohesive sound. Not only do her lyrics tell a story through clever word plays, analogies and cliches, but the production of crybaby was very revolutionary for the time. The unique beats and mixes added so much immersion to the picture Melanie was painting.

What I, and most Melanie Martinez listeners, are most disappointed about is the lack of story that's been built around this album so far. Although this is just a single and the full storyline of the album hasn't been set, This song still feels as though it's lacking some sort of central theme and the concept of the album doesn’t shine through on this track. This song felt like an uncanny modernanization of what she tried to do with sensitive topics in 2016.

Referencing back to her Crybaby era, her most famous single/EP “dollhouse” follows a concept of a dysfunctional family, with themes of addiction, child abuse, and infidelity. And while we can acknowledge that Martinez definitely romanticized these themes, it's also worth recognizing how good of a job she did with immersing audiences at the time, and now, into the crybaby universe. In this new track, Melanie also clearly discusses themes of abuse, but it just flopped in a way.

POSSESSION is obviously talking about being in an abusive relationship where a man is objectifying and emotionally manipulating his partner. But she just says that! We explicitly know exactly what this character is going through, there is nothing that is implied or anything that can be interpreted within the lyrics because she just plainly states what's going on. It's also frustrating that there seems to be no resolve. Something I appreciated about her past work is that even if she did romanticize extreme topics like sexual abuse, kidnapping, or grooming, each song had some sort of resolve that mocked, sterotyped, or condemed those actions. But this song just doesn't have it. It feels like an acceptance of misogyny rather than a joke or condemnment of it.

The track was also just kind of objectively boring and repetitive. I can admit that the chorus has an interesting tune with a catchy hook, but, again, that's the whole issue. Melanie has proven that she can do a lot more with her lyrics than just provide a catchy chorus. The lyrics didn’t explore the topic of abuse any more than just explaining what has been done (and in a sense romanticizing it) but some can admit her other songs also follow this same pattern, which is honestly valid.

Some positives I feel that should be mentioned is that art, imagery and style of this album that she's shared so far are aesthetically beautiful. It is definitely unique and separate from the crybaby aesthetic she's upheld for so long, and I think she's done an amazing job at making the vibe of this album very true and unique to herself, which im loving and I can appreciate; the bug sheer suit she posted this song too was jaw dropping and she looked amazing

It's also worth noting that months before the official announcement of this double album, Melanie confided in an Instagram story that these albums were one she felt most proud of, and that's worth appreciation as well.

I honestly feel like if the album follows a central theme that we just aren't clued in on yet, the song may be a lot better within that context, but as a single on its own, it just feels like a parody of a parody of her old music.