Former contestant of The Voice shows potential of stardom

-Melanie Martinez, an American singer and songwriter who made her first significant breakthrough in music as a contestant of The Voice, has released her own revolutionary debut album called Cry Baby.

Despite being eliminated in the Top 6 of season three of The Voice, Melanie Martinez has attempted—and succeeded—to pursue her dream of making a name for herself in the music industry by releasing her debut album called Cry Baby.

Martinez is a 20-year-old American singer and songwriter who was born in Baldwin, New York. After being a contestant on The Voice, she decided to work on her own original musical content. The results of her decision to continue pursuing a successful music career despite being eliminated are two monumental musical masterpieces: first her EP called Dollhouse, and now her debut album called Cry Baby.

Based on the unique and iconic look that Martinez has created for herself, with her signature half-pink and half-black hair and her bold, unusual makeup choices, it was no surprise that her first ever album would likewise be original and distinct.

Melanie Martinez’s album Cry Baby is classified as the genres of indie pop and electropop in iTunes, but her sound is so distinguishable, yet broad, that it can best be described in the all-encompassing genre of alternative-pop. Her overall sound seems to be a sort of middle ground of Lana del Rey’s retro, cinematic vibe and Marina and the Diamonds’ upbeat, synthetic pop sound. In addition to the similar sound, Cry Baby also channels the deep and clever comparisons found in the lyrics of certain Marina and the Diamonds songs, like “Starring Role.”

On the surface, Cry Baby appears to be a conglomeration of meaningless songs with child-like song titles and elements, but once a closer listen is given, the expressive, creative, and even dark nature of the album is revealed.

The very first track, “Cry Baby,” opens the album by introducing an actual character known as Cry Baby. This character is essentially what the whole album is based upon. Martinez created this character with the intention of projecting her feelings onto it, aiding her in dealing with her own insecurities and problems. Throughout the album, the same opportunity of purging emotions is available and useful to the listener. The listener is able to engage in the storytelling song lyrics and rejuvenating timbre of the music through the character Cry Baby. It functions as an easier way to deal with problems objectively from a bystander’s viewpoint rather than head-on. This cathartic aspect of Cry Baby is one of many noteworthy characteristics that serves to differentiate Martinez’s music from the generic pop music that tends to bog down the top charts.

The extent of Cry Baby’s originality does not end there. In addition to creating a character out of the album and basing a whole theme around it in order to aid in dealing with significant life problems, Martinez uses extensive comparisons to convey the serious underlying stories of each song.
Martinez tells these serious stories through her lyrics by utilizing aspects of a typical childhood in a unique way by turning them into metaphors for serious, hard-hitting topics. In fact, this is essentially the whole idea behind her album, making her tracks immensely unique from the get-go. Every song, from “Dollhouse” to “Sippy Cup,” uses child-like elements on the surface to convey a deeper, underlying meaning. The song titled “Tag, You’re It” is a prime example of this creativity and thought that went into making Cry Baby. It compares the common children game of tag to the mature issue of the harassment of women. “Running through the parking lot / He chased me and he wouldn’t stop / Tag, you’re it, tag, tag, you’re it.”

The strongest, most fulfilling track of the album that clearly displays the tremendous talent of Melanie Martinez is “Mrs. Potato Head.” The upbeat, electronic sound and the seemingly meaningless lyrics prove to greatly contradict the serious and mature below-the-surface message. The song delves into the modern controversial topic of altering one’s appearance in hopes of achieving society’s definition of beauty. The lyrics seem to be advocating for plastic surgery and photo editing in order to make one more aesthetically pleasing. “Don’t be dramatic / It’s only some plastic / No one will love you if you’re unattractive.” However, this is not the case. Martinez uses this track as a satirical piece to exemplify how ridiculous plastic surgery and society’s emphasis of “beauty” is. It gives the visual of Mrs. Potato Head being manipulated to achieve a more attractive look, just like people in today’s society are manipulated if they give in to the idea that it’s necessary to be conventionally beautiful. Yet again, Martinez utilized a childhood aspect–in this case a popular toy–and compared it to the mature and current topic of plastic surgery. This is just one of the many songs on Cry Baby that emphasize the innovativeness of Martinez. She outdoes herself over and over again throughout the album and seems to have experience beyond her years.

The album Cry Baby may seem like just another superficial, generic pop album at first glance, but it has proven to be so much more when given a quality listen. Martinez’s debut album is filled with unique characteristics that drastically set her music apart from the meaningless garbage that now fill a great portion of the top spots on music charts. The metaphorical and witty lyrics, the catchy synth beats, and the distinct storytelling nature of each individual song make the listener need more as soon as the album ends. Who knows, maybe it was even a good thing that Martinez was eliminated from The Voice if that seemingly devastating event was what spurred the originality and creativity found in the album Cry Baby.