PITHY, PASSIONATE, POLITICAL: ALT-POP SENSATION MELANIE MARTINEZ SHARES NEW ALBUM ‘HADES’
ALBUM REVIEW | MELANIE MARTINEZ – HADES by Martha Munro
With over 30 billion streams worldwide, 5.54 billion YouTube views and over 62.2 million followers across social media platforms, it’s safe to say Melanie Martinez is officially the alt-pop icon of a generation. And fans are finally getting what they’ve been itching to hear for three years: HADES, Martinez‘s fiery fourth album that she calls ‘a cracked mirror’, an unflinching reflection on the fractured world that swirls around us with violence, division and greed.
Angry at the world? Get listening.
HADES kicks off with a bang – no, literally. First track ‘GARBAGE‘ begins with soft sounds of birdsong that are soon replaced with an abrupt explosion and crowd of screams; Martinez makes it clear from the get-go that there will be no sugar-coating here. The strings that follow these found sounds have a haunting, Tim-Burton-esque quality, as does Martinez‘s voice as it comes in with her classic, clean, high vocals and subtle harmonies to layer up the power. And as soon as the lyrics come in, the song becomes a scathing criticism of corruption and complicity in America, with deeper, grittier vocals singing lines like ‘So you better run for the forest / So you better hide while you’re growing’. It becomes explosive, overwhelming, consuming towards the end before Martinez’s final plea: ‘build something better this time.’
And the criticism only grows stronger from there; second track ‘IS THIS A CULT?‘ zooms in on poisonous patriarchal power, but ends by empowering women to rise up. It’s a girl power anthem, but not without Martinez‘s signature dark twists. It starts with creepy, horror-film-fitting, singular piano notes, soon joined by Martinez‘s account of meeting a man she calls ‘Hades’, still entrenched in this threatening, impending doom. At the chorus, the focus shifts from men – ‘His face may be wet but he’ll pull out a knife’ – to women – ‘Is this a cult? Can we revolt?’. The chorus is founded by a hip-hop style rhythm that lends itself to the track’s earthiness and intensity, not to mention the church bells that just ooze abandoned-cathedral-horror-film. As she has done masterfully throughout her singer-songwriter career, most notably on her 2015 album Cry Baby, Martinez employs an intentionally problematic infantalised voice, creating a familiar dark satire that ups the drama of lyrics like ‘Now we’re all taking turns on the pony / Put a saddle on him, feed him macaroni / Pull his teeth out one by one-y / Make him smile’. And it ends like it began, with the oddly threatening simplicity of that piano melody – a creepy, cutting triumph.
Up next is the album’s lead single ‘POSSESSION‘, which amassed 2.7 million streams in the first 24 hours of its release, and has since surpassed 33 million – and after listening, I can definitely see why. It’s catchy and stylish, but revolves around the experience of being made into a ‘possession’ or ‘trinket’ by a man, manipulated and subordinated. Again, the style fusions used here are really impactful, with a hip-hop beat that works seamlessly with the haunted-house alt-pop of the rest of the sound. The satire representation of the mindless housewife is equally disturbing and brilliant; the childish motif of ‘diddy-dum’ portrays an infantalised, naive wife, but the lyrics are pained and telling: ‘I try my best to bite my tongue / but it keeps bleeding.’ Ever read or seen A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen? Because POSSESSION is Nora Helmer’s anthem.
‘WHITE BOY WITH A GUN‘ leaves no stone unturned, as the title suggests. The style is more beachy and reverb heavy, coming in with an indie-esque plucking pattern on the guitar. This compositional simplicity remains throughout, allowing the lyrics to be spotlighted. And they really do speak for themselves, making this track a highlight in every way: ‘All the sheep, white people alike / The women, the men, the centre spotlight / Their ignorant brains call genocide war / Protect white feelings while they swipe and ignore.’
Following track and single ‘DISNEY PRINCESS‘ is no less critical, but this time flips the focus onto Martinez herself and her tumultuous experience of being a young woman in the music industry. She once again nails the use of irony – the track is upbeat, still with that indie flare and beautiful vocals, but the lyrics describe a deeply depressive and exploited state, particularly in the chorus, imploring ‘Turn on your TV / Come on, worship me, I’m perfect… Liquor and cocaine / Suffering and pain is worth it’. Towards its end, the track takes a dark sonic turn, twisting through TV static and wind chimes until it sounds like an all-out scare sequence, complete with ear-splitting strings and gory flesh – it’s pretty shocking, so naturally a perfect way into the next track ‘GRUDGES‘. It’s violent, cathartic, erotic, wild. From full on screams to a rocking guitar solo, this song lets everything out, leaning into Martinez‘s impressive vocal range to go from mockingly angelic and infantile to growling and booming with intensity – ‘GRUDGES‘ is one hell of a ride.
It also slides right into ‘MONOPOLY MAN‘ with more found sounds, this time of tills slamming and coins cascading. As well as this, there’s a much deeper bass powering the sound, with high keys and a repetitive, hex-like melody-motif. When Martinez starts singing – calling out stupidly rich men and encouraging others to do the same – she uses various vocoders and harmonies to achieve an eerie, close texture. While this is admittedly a really fun way to extend the critical lens of HADES, this track doesn’t quite hit like the others – it gets a bit same-y after a while.
But the same definitely can’t be said about the following track ‘AVOIDANT‘, a contrastingly balladic track about how hurt people hurt people, about trying endlessly to help someone else break that cycle. The foundations and pillars of this song are vulnerability, evident from the very first Mazzy-Star-like strums that give a soft, yet ominous, cinematic, Yellowjackets vibe. The syncopation is impressive, the vocal movements are dreamy, but the star of the show is Martinez‘s silky smooth, heartfelt vocals. And the lyrics she sings are packed full of emotion too: ‘It’s true I probably could find better but / I’m asking you to step it up / Don’t hurt me like they did to you.’ The songwriting works so that ‘AVOIDANT‘ feels like hope and resignation all at once, yearning as well as wariness.
I have to admit, the next couple of tracks weren’t my cup of tea. ‘MONOLITH‘ is another more sombre, balladic track, admittedly very beautifully sung with poignant lyrics about carrying the weight of so many expectant eyes as Martinez has done in the spotlight for years. However, it just gets a bit repetitive after a while – same goes for the following track ‘WEIGHT WATCHERS‘. Again, it’s thematically strong, musing on the ridiculous, consuming nature of things like ‘skinnytok’, dieting trends and cosmetic surgeries. But compositionally it doesn’t quite reach the bar of some of the others. It’s just as cutting, but not quite as refined.
‘THE PLAGUE‘, however, is a stunning song that seems to stem from post-covid anxieties. Martinez focuses on the quarantine aspect, revealing how isolation from a plague is like a plague in itself, hurting us in other, more discreet ways. But away from these thematics, the standout aspect of this track is the style switch-ups: it begins with a synth-key melody, joined by melancholic, soft strings and vocal harmonies; the verse soon shifts into a more electronic, bass-beat, hip-hop chorus, more overtly urgent and dynamic; then the post-chorus moves into a full dance style, playing with different vocals from the familiar vocoder to the sound of coughing. It’s experimental, but skilful, and somehow works perfectly, reminding the listener of artists like Rosalía.
Up next is ‘BATSHIT INTELLIGENCE‘ , with its sultry but strong espionage energy. The atmospheric, electronic opening leads into a musical call to action: don’t sit by while injustice happens around you. This is communicated not only through the lyrics – like the unambiguous pun, ‘trump on corruption’ – but through the trajectory of the composition, gaining momentum that conveys more and more anxieties and angers about the state of the world. ‘GUTTER‘ carries similar themes, this time about innocent people getting caught up in conflict between ‘the powers that be’. It has a waltzing, theatrical quality, pushing the lyrics right in the listener’s face: ‘see pain, see truth, see lies’. Martinez makes the most of her vocals on this one – at times, her voice is light and wispy, and at others, is chesty and passionate, heightening the emotion she clearly feels in every lyric. She even employs a new, warped, nasal voice to impersonate the evil she condemns, spewing ‘Evil is as evil does / Y’all can just go get fucked’. Ultimately, ‘GUTTER‘ shows off every tool in Martinez‘s box, as well as highlighting the need to ‘Build your community / Don’t get immune to this’.
Following track ‘UNCANNY VALLEY‘ has a more earthy, bass-powered style. You can’t help but nod your head to the beat and lilting vocals that overflow with 2010s pop-rock angst. It’s super stylish and pithy at the same time. On the creative process behind this track, Martinez said: ‘UNCANNY VALLEY was the last song I wrote for HADES. The song is about how social media and AI have warped our relationship to beauty, constantly comparing ourselves to edited faces, reshaping how we look just to feel desirable, needing a filter to feel normal.’
Where ‘UNCANNY VALLEY‘ expresses raw, real frustration, ‘THE VATICAN‘ uses satire instead to undermine the corrupt Catholic church and, in particular, the men who herald it. It begins with church bells and a men’s church choir singing a slow, melancholic tune, before ramping right back up to another electro bass-pumped track that promises a bite. The chorus packs a special punch, combining sexual worship and religious worship, just as Martinez combines hymnal and electronic elements, to take normalised, hateful teachings and bring them down with irony and satire. At the bridge, she exclaims, ‘Don’t repress yourself, express yourself / Scream “Jesus, baby, you’re hot as hell!”‘ – a very Chappell-Roan-esque moment in its sound and sensibility alike. It’s an all-round winner, and a kick in the teeth to the homophobes who serve hate rather than love.
Again, though, the next couple of tracks just miss the mark. ‘HELL’S FRONT PORCH‘ is a musing on climate change, which does a great job on the lyrics, but the instrumentals and other aspects of the song, like the vocoder, just don’t quite sound right. Right after the blazing highlight that was ‘THE VATICAN‘, this one falls a little flat. And while the following song ‘CHATROOM‘ is six minutes long, I feel like it didn’t have to be. It’s pretty anti-climactic, and as the penultimate track on the album, it could’ve packed a bigger punch.
However, Martinez well and truly brings it back with the closing track of HADES – ‘THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ON EARTH‘. And yes, it is as dramatic as it sounds. It begins with the unmistakeable sound of sirens, joined by a slow-strummed guitar that unfolds into a more classical number, with the strings, songwriting, and sexiness of a Lana Del Rey song: ‘fuck me like we’re the last two people on earth’. Yes, it’s about intimacy, but its placement at the end of a record about widespread, serious, scary issues is clearly intentional. Amid the sirens, explosions and fire – all of which can be heard in this final track – it’s important to remember and protect what it is that we fight for: connection, love, joy, freedom. This is definitely the only track that could have closed HADES, and it’s one of the most masterful of them all.
HADES is definitely a must-listen for 2026. As an 18-track album, it does fall a little flat at points, but the overall quality, creativity, and – most importantly – message is astoundingly well-composed. In a world fraught with violence, division and corruption in every corner, this album is both an exposee and a community-builder, shining a light on darkness. If this really is ‘Hades’, a type of underworld, then Melanie Martinez is a blaze of life and talent that could inspire us all to make a change.
HADES is OUT NOW: Buy/Listen Here.
