Portals

"Björk got there first with the extreme physical transformations and immersive nature songs. Musically, Martinez is less adventurous than the Icelandic experimentalist but a good deal more accessible ... However, anyone who sees a picture of her first will find it hard not to find the songs comparatively lacking. For the complete Martinez experience, the album isn't enough".

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"With 2023's PORTALS, Melanie Martinez further fleshes out her high-concept pop, crafting an album that plays enticingly like Alice in a goth Wonderland. Arriving on the heels of a two-year hiatus, the record is the singer's first not to feature her empath "Cry Baby" persona, the focus of both 2015's Cry Baby and 2019's K-12. Thematically, PORTALS is an album about death and rebirth with songs that speak to Martinez's ongoing knack for reinventing her sci-fantasy baby girl aesthetic in ever more musically nuanced and diaristic ways".

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"There's two separate albums within PORTALS, and it unfortunately spends more time with melodies and instrumentation remarkably similar to her past work. The lyrics and themes are darker, and feel more real compared to her previous songs lacquered in metaphor, but the artistic reinvention promised with its fantastical and imaginative cover art fails to go all the way".

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