Alt-pop artist, Melanie Martinez returns with her sophomore album, K-12. The second album is an excellent predecessor as it perfectly fuses her persona from her previous album, Cry Baby to her next story about her years in primary and high-school.
K-12 is much more than a concept album, it is a short film. It stars Martinez, as “Cry Baby,” displaying her condensed tale of school life. The K-12 film is well produced, dramatic, kooky, bright and pastel. Despite the visuals being deceivingly innocent, much like Martinez’s lyrics, her short film is one of pain, growth, and the primitive world that is known as the educational system.
The album features, much like her first album, a childlike innocence. In her opening song, it mixes the sounds of the “Wheels on the bus” with her not so innocent lyrics about passing the joint. From there it progressively gets more serious as Martinez grapples with criticism, bullying from her classmates, dealing with signs of depression, and acceptance of her female body (seen in the song, Strawberry Shortcake). Despite the grim lyrics her sound is still a mixture of “poppy” electronic with slight spook that is accompanied by her whispery vocals.
K-12 is well executed, both the feature and the album itself. And if you’d like to see the album played out in person, you can very soon. On Sept. 8, Martinez announced on Twitter her official tour dates for the K-12 tour.
You can find out more about the tour here: http://www.melaniemartinezmusic.com/#tour
Stream “K-12” the album on Spotify.
This album is something else! Crybaby haven us a taste of her true talent and now K-12 is the perfect exhibit of that.