Portals (Melanie Martinez album)

Portals is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez. It was released on March 31, 2023, through Atlantic Records.[7] It was preceded by two singles, "Death", on March 17, 2023, and "Void" on March 29, 2023. A deluxe edition was released on April 5, 2023, featuring three new tracks.

Portals
Studio album by
Melanie Martinez
ReleasedMarch 31, 2023 (2023-03-31)
Genre
Length51:33
LabelAtlantic
Producer
Melanie Martinez chronology
After School
(2020)		 Portals
(2023)
Singles from Portals
  1. "Death"
    Released: March 17, 2023
  2. "Void"
    Released: March 29, 2023
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Evening Standard[5]
The Line of Best Fit6/10[6]
Rolling Stone[3]

Background

After releasing her[lower-alpha 1] second studio album K–12 with a musical film of the same name in 2019,[8][9] Martinez released her fourth extended play, After School (2020), which served as a deluxe edition for the second studio album.[10] However, the extended play is not connected to the musical film in terms of the timeline.[11]

After being on two-year hiatus for music, Martinez started to archive all of her Instagram posts and teased the upcoming album on February 18, 2023.[12] The singer also released a twelve-second snippet on Spotify.[13]

Promotion

The teaser video showed a mushroom in a foggy, dream-like forest, with the phrase "RIP Crybaby" engraved in its stem, accompanied by a snippet of a new song.[14] Several more teasers were posted over the next few days on all her social media platforms, representing the "themes of rebirth, growing embryos, and eggs incubating in forests".[15] She also began replacing the thumbnails of previously uploaded YouTube videos with the image from this teaser video.

On February 22, 2023, she uploaded a one-minute-long teaser "of herself hatching from an egg as a pink, deep sea-styled creature".[16] The teaser also included the album's name and release date. Her official website was also updated, showcasing the album cover, and merchandise for the album became available to the public for pre-order.[17] Before releasing the lead single of the album, Martinez revealed the album's title through her official website.[18]

In the weeks leading up to the album's release, Martinez debuted several songs from the album in South America. She performed at all three South American Lollapalooza festivals,[19][20] as well as Festival Estéreo Picnic[21] and a solo headlining show in Santiago.[22]

Singles

In March 2023, Martinez uploaded a post to Instagram featuring a cryptic message and a photo showcasing the alter-ego pink alien character "emerging from a prone human form". The post also showed a set of lyrics, a release date, and the title of "Death", the lead single for the album, released on March 17, 2023.[23] The single was written and produced by Martinez, with CJ Baran co-producing.[24] "Void" was released digitally as the second single from the album on March 29, 2023, and will be sent to alternative radio in the United States on April 11, 2023.[25]

Commercial performance

In the United States, Portals debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, earning 142,000 equivalent album units (99,000 pure sales and 60,58M on-demand streams)[26] in its first week, becoming the highest sales debut of a female soloist in 2023. It became her third top-10 album and the highest-charting album of her career.[27]

In Australia, the album debuted at No. 1 on Australian Albums Chart, becoming her first number-one album in the country.[28]

Tour
Portals Tour
Tour by Melanie Martinez
Associated albumPortals
Start dateMay 30, 2023 (2023-05-30)
End dateJuly 15, 2023 (2023-07-15)
Legs1
No. of shows29
Melanie Martinez concert chronology

The Portals Tour is Martinez's fourth concert tour. The singer announced the first leg, in North America, via her Instagram. Comprising twenty-nine dates, the leg is set to begin on May 30, 2023, in Denver, Colorado, and set to conclude on July 15, 2023, in Montreal, Canada. The pre-sale took place on April 5, 2023, with the general sale taking place two days later on April 7.[29]

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, and venue
Date City Country Venue
Leg 1 – North America
May 30, 2023 Denver United States Fillmore Auditorium
June 1, 2023 Sandy Sandy Amphitheater
June 3, 2023 Seattle WaMu Theater
June 4, 2023 Portland Theater of the Clouds
June 6, 2023 San Francisco Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
June 7, 2023 Wheatland Hard Rock Live
June 9, 2023 Inglewood YouTube Theater
June 10, 2023 San Diego Viejas Arena
June 12, 2023 Phoenix Arizona Financial Theatre
June 15, 2023 Irving Toyota Music Factory
June 16, 2023 Houston 713 Music Hall
June 17, 2023 Austin Moody Amphitheater
June 20, 2023 Tampa Yuengling Center
June 21, 2023 Hollywood Hard Rock Live
June 23, 2023 Atlanta Cadence Bank Amphitheatre
June 24, 2023 Charlotte AvidxChange Music Factory
June 27, 2023 Bridgeport Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater
June 28, 2023 New York City Radio City Music Hall
June 30, 2023 Philadelphia Skyline Stage
July 1, 2023 Boston MGM Music Hall
July 2, 2023 Washington, D.C. The Anthem
July 5, 2023 Cleveland Jacobs Pavilion
July 7, 2023 Cincinnati Andrew J. Brady Music Center
July 8, 2023 Sterling Heights Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
July 10, 2023 St. Louis Saint Louis Music Park
July 11, 2023 Chicago Aragon Ballroom
July 12, 2023 Minneapolis Minneapolis Armory
July 14, 2023 Toronto Canada Meridian Hall
July 15, 2023 Montreal M Telus

Track listing

All tracks are written by Melanie Martinez, except where noted.

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Death" 
5:06
2."Void" Martinez4:07
3."Tunnel Vision"
4:44
4."Faerie Soirée"
  • Martinez
  • Jon Hoskins
  • Glen Garth
  • Phil Garth
  • Martinez
  • Baran
  • Hoskins
  • The 23rd
2:43
5."Light Shower" Martinez4:27
6."Spider Web" Baran3:03
7."Leeches"
  • Martinez
  • Simon Rosen
  • Baran
  • Simon Says
3:20
8."Battle of the Larynx" Baran5:28
9."The Contortionist"
  • Martinez
  • Baran
Baran3:20
10."Moon Cycle"
  • Martinez
  • Baran
  • Jared Scharff
  • Baran
  • Pearl Lion
2:32
11."Nymphology"
  • Baran
  • Justin Greenwood[a]
5:06
12."Evil"
  • Martinez
  • Baran
Baran4:06
13."Womb"
Baran3:31
Total length:51:33
Apple Music edition (bonus video)[30]
No.TitleLength
14."The Hatching"1:01
Total length:52:34
Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14."Powder"
  • Martinez
  • Baran
Baran3:58
15."Pluto"
3:01
16."Milk of the Siren"
  • Martinez
  • Dussolliet
  • Sommers
One Love4:25
Total length:62:57

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer
  • "Nymphology" contains the hidden interlude "Amulet", starting at 3:58.[31]

Personnel

Musicians

  • Melanie Martinez – vocals (all tracks); programming (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5)
  • CJ Baran – programming, synthesizer (tracks 1, 3, 7–12); guitar (tracks 1, 8, 11, 12)
  • Rhys Hastings – drums (tracks 1, 2, 8, 10, 13)
  • Martin Kutnar – cello (tracks 1, 7, 9, 11)
  • Matej Mihaljević – violin (tracks 1, 7, 9, 11)
  • One Love – programming, synthesizer (track 3)
  • Pearl Lion – guitar (track 10)
  • Nick Long – guitar (track 11)
  • Ilan Rubin – drums (track 12)

Technical

Charts
Chart performance for Portals
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] 11
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] 14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35] 15
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] 3
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[37] 4
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[38] 8
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[39] 16
French Albums (SNEP)[40] 30
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] 4
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[42] 11
Icelandic Albums (Plötutíðindi)[43] 20
Irish Albums (OCC)[44] 3
Italian Albums (FIMI)[45] 20
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[46] 7
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[47] 1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[48] 22
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[49] 9
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[50] 4
Scottish Albums (OCC)[51] 3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[52] 8
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[53] 28
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[54] 23
UK Albums (OCC)[55] 2
US Billboard 200[56] 2
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[57] 1
US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)[58] 1
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[59] 1

Release history
Release dates and formats for Portals
Region Date Format(s) Edition Label Ref.
Various[lower-alpha 2] March 31, 2023
Standard Atlantic [60][30]
United States Vinyl LP Target exclusive [61]
Urban Outfitters exclusive [62]
Walmart exclusive [63]
Various[lower-alpha 2] April 5, 2023
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 Deluxe [64][65]

Notes
  1. Martinez uses she/her and they/them pronouns. This article uses she/her pronouns for consistency.
  2. Digital copies are available worldwide, with the exception of Belarus and Russia.

References
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  60. Portals release formats:
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