Melanie Martinez ‘Portals’ Listening Party: New Sound Made From Old Sounds

We went to one of the listening parties of Melanie Martinez her upcoming album Portals. She had listening parties all over the world today for her upcoming album. We visited the only one not in a record/comic store. We visited the listening party in The Upside Down Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

I got inside the museum, this museum consists of multiple rooms so they explained to us that the listening party would be in the first room. People would still be walking through so we had to stand more to the sides. The room itself was beautiful and there were already a bunch of fans. You could see pictures of her new character all around the room in different scenarios and poses. Our group got in a little after the start so we missed the first few songs.

The first song we heard was Light Shower. I couldn’t get the best impression yet but I stayed until I heard it for a second time. Do note that the lyrics were quite difficult to hear so I can’t really comment on that a lot. I won’t spoil the album too much since our album review will be more in depth. The album review will of course release when the album releases. Melanie already played a few songs live during Lollapalooza Argentina, Battle Of The Larynx, Tunnel Vision, Faerie Soirée, Evil and Void.

I will sum up every song in 1 or 2 sentences:

Death: This song is already released but still one of my favorite songs of the album.
Void: Catchy, this song will stay in your head for a long time.
Tunnel Vision: A slow dark song where the percussion mainly leads the song.
Faerie Soirée: The intro is really different than the rest of the song, it feels fast paced but the entire song kind of sounds the same.
Light Shower: This song had me speechless, it’s so tender and beautiful.
Spider Web: Really bouncy, the post chorus is one of the best parts of the songs where the kick drum and bass combine perfectly.
Leeches: Quite the eerie song with a lot of buildups that sadly don’t go anywhere.
Battle Of The Larynx: Really pop like but with Melanie her own twist, the ending is great.
The Contortionist: This pre-chorus is amazing, also the song that comes closest to her K-12 album.
Moon Cycle: The only song where I make a comment on the lyrics. I love how the title sounds so extremely space like while the song is about something entirely different.
Nymphology: Also one of the faster songs, this song is hyper pop like.
Evil: The intro reminds me so much of Lotta True Crime by Penelope Scott. The song itself is so different tho. This song sounds the most like pop.
Womb: This song is mostly just her and a guitar, starts to build up a little but eventually ends how it started.