If there’s anyone who has successfully completely changed their public image, Melanie Martinez is the one to look up to. From a contestant on The Voice to a woman who is creating her very own fantasy world through her music and visual art, Martinez has reached many different audiences successfully. Austin has the privilege of being one of the stops on her Portals Tour, a brand new tour in promotion of her brand new album, Portals. Come see Melanie Martinez live at the Moody Amphitheater on June 17th, 2023!
Martinez grew up in New York and has always had a desire to create music and sing. In 2012, Martinez auditioned for The Voice and caught the attention of 3 coaches on the show, Adam Levine, CeeLo Green and Blake Shelton. Martinez joined Levine’s team and made it all the way to week 5 before sadly getting voted off. After the show, Martinez worked on her own personal projects and eventually signed to Atlantic Records and released her debut original single, “Dollhouse,” on February 9th, 2014. She released a fan-funded music video for the song with the shooting, hair and makeup all done by her friends! On May 19th, 2014, she released her first EP, Dollhouse. The single “Carousel” from the album went certified gold by RIAA and brought her a brand new fan base. She was popular on Tumblr and people used her visuals and music to match their aesthetics on the website. She often speaks about growing up in a “traditional Latin household” that did not speak much of sexuality and sexual expression. This form of shelter led her to create music and an image that expressed those qualities of herself openly and advocated for others to express themselves freely as well. Her first EP tackled difficult topics in a unique, childlike way, as does her first album, Cry Baby.
The first single from Cry Baby, “Pity Party,” reached mainstream success and was also certified gold by the RIAA. The second single on the album, “Soap,” reached #12 on the Alternative Digital Songs chart and its music video has received over 77 million views on YouTube. Cry Baby then came out on August 14th, 2015 and debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200’s list. The album’s songs have titles that have to do with childhood, such as “Training Wheels,” “Sippy Cup” and “Milk and Cookies” but the contents of the songs tackle difficult issues in society and a complex journey of self identity. In 2017, Martinez told the public that her next album wouldn’t just be music, but also a film telling the story of each song she wrote for it. After years of work, Martinez finally dropped her film, K-12 (The Film), in select movie theaters and on YouTube on September 5th, 2019. The film is an hour and 32 minutes long and has over 109 million views on YouTube. The album, K-12, was released on streaming platforms that night. The album’s songs have titles that have to do with memories from elementary school including “Detention,” “Recess,” “Teacher’s Pet” and “Show & Tell.” The album has the same aesthetic and tackles similar themes as Cry Baby does. The film has miraculous storytelling and music video-like scenes whenever the songs are being played throughout it!
More recently, Martinez has completely changed her public identity and persona with the release of her newest album, Portals. Cry Baby and K-12 were categorized as being hip-hop/R&B albums, while Portals is categorized as using experimental sounds, pop-rock and artistic pop. On February 18th, 2023, Martinez archived all of her previous Instagram posts and posted a teaser for Portals of a mushroom with “RIP Cry Baby” written on it. Her new posts included tentacles, an egg hatching and Melanie herself appearing as a 4-eyed mythical creature representing a brand new era. Her Instagram now only has posts surrounding this fantasy world that Portal represents. On March 17th, she released the album’s lead single, “Death.” The album was released on March 31st, 2023 and she announced the Portals Tour four days later on April 3rd.
This will be Martinez first time touring in her brand new era and artistic look. You don’t want to miss your chance to hear all of her famous songs and brand new album live! If you are not familiar with Melanie Martinez, you definitely have heard one of her songs before. Her song “Play Date” went viral on Tik Tok and became one of the most-played songs on Spotify in 2020. She was also featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 list! Tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.com.
When? June 17th, 2023
Where? Moody Amphitheater (1401 Trinity St, Austin, TX 78701)
Time? 7:30 pm CT
Ages? All Ages welcome
Photo Credits: Matt Matasci
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