Los Angeles – While being a contestant on the popular singing competition program The Voice was probably a boon for Melanie Martinez, it came with its own unique set of challenges. For one thing, the show has a weak track record of actually producing successful artists – another issue is that the contestants are required to sing cover songs throughout the competition. This made it difficult for some of her audience members to understand that she was a burgeoning songwriter in her own right and had little interest in rehashing the covers from the competition.
“I think that a lot of people recently, because of putting out music and because of the album, are new fans and I love that,” said Martinez this week in a phone interview with Best New Bands. “It was really hard for a while to explain to people that I wasn’t a cover artist and that I wrote songs. It was just like, obviously hard at first to do shows because there would be requests to do “Toxic” and I didn’t want to…I don’t know, I just felt really uncomfortable singing covers, and so I was really, really pushing for a long time, my originals to the fans that were introduced to me through The Voice.”
After the release of Cry Baby, her debut full-length on Atlantic Records, it is hard to even remember that she was that same young lady that went viral on YouTube with a nationally broadcast Britney Spears cover a few years ago. Instead of caving to the demands of her cover-loving audiences, Martinez was bold on stage in showcasing her originals.
“I just started singing originals at shows and seeing how people react to them,” she said. “Eventually they got used to it and then they actually started listening to my music. And now I have an album out that I am super, super excited about and I worked on for so long. I am just happy that more people are finding out about me through my new music. It really represents who I am as an artist and as a person because it is such a personal record for me.”
One way Martinez made a statement about her seriousness as a songwriter was landing her track “Carousel” on the American Horror Story: Freak Show trailer. The song helped her gain massive exposure among the popular show’s dedicated audience; perfect, because the aesthetic of the AMC thriller perfectly matches that of the pop singer. Martinez elaborated on the back story of getting her song prominently featured on the show’s trailer:
“So basically I wrote the song “Carousel” I’d say maybe a year before [the American Horror Story trailer] even came out. I found out about the theme for the next season two months after the song, through you know, Twitter, people freaking out because it got leaked about how it was going to be some sort of carnival, like, circus-y feel. And I had written “Carousel” and thought like, ‘Wow, it’s kind of perfect’”. And I’m obsessed with American Horror Story, I love the first two seasons; they’re my favorite. And I kind of just tried to send it in and did not hear back for like, a whole year. Then for a couple days before they aired it they sent an email, so I was like freaking out.”
As far as the themes and topics addressed on the album, Martinez said that it had a lot to do with relating childhood themes with the kinds of adult situations she had experienced over the last few years. She talks about how this song, one of the first she wrote, influenced the overall themes of her debut full length:
“Like ‘Carousel’…I wrote that song based off of a relationship I was in and how I felt. I was basically like, relating being on a carousel with someone—them being on the horse in front of me and me trying to reach them. But I’m never able to, so we’re just like spinning in this endless circle. So after “Dollhouse” and “Carousel” happened I wanted to continue to tell stories that way because I thought it was so much fun and it was a challenge to think of different themes and you know, make the whole connection with things that adults go through.”
At 20 years of age, Melanie Martinez is still in the infancy of her career. While the lyrics on Cry Baby are not going to blow anyone out of the water with their complexity, there is no denying just how deeply personal, exceptionally honest, and universally relatable they are. Songs like “Sippy Cup” and “Dollhouse” combine unique, danceable beats with lyrics about families with just a couple skeletons in their closets.
While it is not totally obvious upon initial listens, Cry Baby is an album with a bit of a common concept, detailing the life and struggles of “Cry Baby”. Unsurprisingly, the character is based on Martinez as she struggles with insecurity and self-confidence, eventually transforming into a more self-realized human.
“There’s this whole transformation with her, and I realized after making the album that the kind of growth that she goes through, I went through as well. She is like super insecure at the beginning of the story and towards the end she goes through all of these things. It makes her more confident and comfortable with being who she is, which is a crazy person.”
Despite finishing sixth on The Voice’s 2013 season, Martinez took her time to come out with her first album. Perhaps this was a very savvy decision. This choice flies in the face of the mainstream music industry’s mode of operation, which always seeks to capitalize on any artist’s notoriety or momentum. While she appreciated the profile boost the show gave she can’t help but “wonder how things would be if I didn’t go on that show.”
Either way, Melanie Martinez would likely emerge into a similar status as today; her talent and ability to fit into a niche of the mainstream music world is undeniable. Cry Baby is being met with favorable reviews, praised for its ability to connect with a younger audience that is dealing with many of the same issues as the singer/title character. The future is looking bright for the Long Island-born singer songwriter:
“I am going on tour; I start my tour August 26 for two months. And then after that I want to write the next album, and I just want to make music videos for every single song and kind of like make weird short film music videos and kind of make them all connect and tell the story of the album.”
Melanie Martinez is doing a short tour, mostly on the East Coast and Midwest of the United States. Check her website for information on tickets.
Matt Matasci
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