A Beginner's Guide To The Wild World Of Melanie Martinez's 'K-12'

  • A Beginner's Guide To The Wild World Of Melanie Martinez's 'K-12'
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    Melanie Martinez

    Melanie Martinez may be one of the most conceptual popstars on the planet. It's been four years since she released her first album Cry Baby and fans are still digging into the lyrical and visual content, pulling out metaphors and decoding it. Now the second album K-12 is here, it's time to do it all again.

    Yesterday, Martinez dropped the entire album alongside a 90-minute film that's full of visual references and metaphors. Naturally her fanbase is already ahead of the rest of us in pulling it apart but for the casual fan it may take a while for you to get your head around it. 

    Martinez has co-written the entire project alongside songwriters Emily Warren (Rita Ora, Alessia Cara) and Michael Keenan who contributed to her last album. For the film, she wrote and directed it by herself.

    If you're just coming on board with Martinez now or have been looking from a far for a while, here's a crash course in the concepts she's covered and what's she's doing with this album. 

    Who Is Cry Baby?

    Cry Baby is Martinez's alter-ego. She was introduced on her debut album Cry Baby where she was brought into the world and labelled that by her mother. That album tracked her troublesome formative years, giving a childlike insight while also keeping things dark and mature. The first album was a concept record and the second K-12 follows the life of Cry Baby.

    How does this one differ to the last one?

    "Sonically the album sounds much more grown because I've grown as a person," Martinez said when discussing the album with The WrapSonically, it's a darker, more mature record with Martinez exploring sexuality, body insecurity and more. This lends itself to the broader concept of the album which continues on from Cry Baby which tracks a grown protagonist. 

    Why no singles?

    "I wanted people to listen to it from the very beginning to the very end," Martinez told NewsdayInstead of releasing individual singles like the last album, she opted to drop the entire thing at once alongside a 90-minute feature film. Martinez reportedly started coming up with treatments for individual singles but eventually decided on piecing it together as an individual film. 

    What's the story-line for it?

    Cry Baby is headed off to school on this album. The film starts with her on the school bus soundtracked by Wheels On The Bus. From there, she combats bullying, abusive bureaucracy, friendships, personality changes and more. The film is a wild, mind-bending trip at times but from a linear perspective it tracks her journey from Kindergarten to Year 12. 

    Martinez has described the film as, "a surrealist, whimsical, dark comedy musical." While there is plenty of detail in the lyrics and the film, she's noted that it's not meant to be entirely taken as it is. Martinez may be playing a character but the film is a hyperbolic, distorted and condensed version of her real life in a sense.

    "I think in school we encounter a lot of scenarios with different kinds of people and then we encounter those same kinds of personalities in our adult life," she told Newsday.

    "We have to learn lessons and repeat cycles till we really learn those lessons."

    As a result, Martinez tackles issues that are prevalent for people both in and out of school. At one point in the film, for example, an African-American student is taken away by security for not standing during the Pledge of Allegiance. A transgender teacher is also fired from the school. "The villains" of the film are those people in power. In the film, it's the heads of the school but it's a poignant reflection of the abuse of power that's going on everywhere right now from politics to the entertainment industry. 

    How long has this album been in the works for?

    Technically, Martinez has been silent on the music front for four years but she's been tinkering away in the background. K-12 began back in 2015 and was officially finished in 2017. The reason it took so long after that to release is because she began work on the film which she wrote and directed herself. She revealed on Instagram that it was released in September because that's when US students head back to school after the summer. 

    What are the best songs?

    K-12 is a body of work. It's difficult to cherrypick records from it but there a few that standout on first listen. Orange Juice is an arresting song about body positivity. A minimal, haunting trap beat dips out for a piano-led chorus that has her singing, "your body is imperfectly perfect" and "everyone wants what the other ones working."

    Strawberry Shortcake is the one that's garnered the most attention straight-up. It's a song about coming to terms with your own body but also being objectified because of it. "It's my fault, it's my fault 'cause I put icing on top," she sings, damning notions of entitlement when it comes to the way women dress or present themselves. 

    What are the fans saying?

    cop some merch from melanie martinez here

     Scary K-12 T-Shirt (Black)

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Melanie Martinez

Melanie Martinez may be one of the most conceptual popstars on the planet. It's been four years since she released her first album Cry Baby and fans are still digging into the lyrical and visual content, pulling out metaphors and decoding it. Now the second album K-12 is here, it's time to do it all again.

Yesterday, Martinez dropped the entire album alongside a 90-minute film that's full of visual references and metaphors. Naturally her fanbase is already ahead of the rest of us in pulling it apart but for the casual fan it may take a while for you to get your head around it. 

Martinez has co-written the entire project alongside songwriters Emily Warren (Rita Ora, Alessia Cara) and Michael Keenan who contributed to her last album. For the film, she wrote and directed it by herself.

If you're just coming on board with Martinez now or have been looking from a far for a while, here's a crash course in the concepts she's covered and what's she's doing with this album. 

Who Is Cry Baby?

Cry Baby is Martinez's alter-ego. She was introduced on her debut album Cry Baby where she was brought into the world and labelled that by her mother. That album tracked her troublesome formative years, giving a childlike insight while also keeping things dark and mature. The first album was a concept record and the second K-12 follows the life of Cry Baby.

How does this one differ to the last one?

"Sonically the album sounds much more grown because I've grown as a person," Martinez said when discussing the album with The WrapSonically, it's a darker, more mature record with Martinez exploring sexuality, body insecurity and more. This lends itself to the broader concept of the album which continues on from Cry Baby which tracks a grown protagonist. 

Why no singles?

"I wanted people to listen to it from the very beginning to the very end," Martinez told NewsdayInstead of releasing individual singles like the last album, she opted to drop the entire thing at once alongside a 90-minute feature film. Martinez reportedly started coming up with treatments for individual singles but eventually decided on piecing it together as an individual film. 

What's the story-line for it?

Cry Baby is headed off to school on this album. The film starts with her on the school bus soundtracked by Wheels On The Bus. From there, she combats bullying, abusive bureaucracy, friendships, personality changes and more. The film is a wild, mind-bending trip at times but from a linear perspective it tracks her journey from Kindergarten to Year 12. 

Martinez has described the film as, "a surrealist, whimsical, dark comedy musical." While there is plenty of detail in the lyrics and the film, she's noted that it's not meant to be entirely taken as it is. Martinez may be playing a character but the film is a hyperbolic, distorted and condensed version of her real life in a sense.

"I think in school we encounter a lot of scenarios with different kinds of people and then we encounter those same kinds of personalities in our adult life," she told Newsday.

"We have to learn lessons and repeat cycles till we really learn those lessons."

As a result, Martinez tackles issues that are prevalent for people both in and out of school. At one point in the film, for example, an African-American student is taken away by security for not standing during the Pledge of Allegiance. A transgender teacher is also fired from the school. "The villains" of the film are those people in power. In the film, it's the heads of the school but it's a poignant reflection of the abuse of power that's going on everywhere right now from politics to the entertainment industry. 

How long has this album been in the works for?

Technically, Martinez has been silent on the music front for four years but she's been tinkering away in the background. K-12 began back in 2015 and was officially finished in 2017. The reason it took so long after that to release is because she began work on the film which she wrote and directed herself. She revealed on Instagram that it was released in September because that's when US students head back to school after the summer. 

What are the best songs?

K-12 is a body of work. It's difficult to cherrypick records from it but there a few that standout on first listen. Orange Juice is an arresting song about body positivity. A minimal, haunting trap beat dips out for a piano-led chorus that has her singing, "your body is imperfectly perfect" and "everyone wants what the other ones working."

Strawberry Shortcake is the one that's garnered the most attention straight-up. It's a song about coming to terms with your own body but also being objectified because of it. "It's my fault, it's my fault 'cause I put icing on top," she sings, damning notions of entitlement when it comes to the way women dress or present themselves. 

What are the fans saying?

cop some merch from melanie martinez here

 Scary K-12 T-Shirt (Black)

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