HADES, Melanie Martinez - a millionaire's commentary on wealth inequality

Photo: Cho Gi-Seok

Are we already living in a dystopia?  

Well, luckily for us, Melanie Martinez is here to address this on her fourth studio album, HADES. Yes, the millionaire who sold ‘environmentally friendly’ NFTs to her fans, discusses climate change, wealth inequality and other social issues on HADES. Ahem, I’ll put my soapbox away now. Obviously, these issues aren’t limited to the working class, but you can’t tell me that it’s not a little ironic.  

Surprisingly though, there are some tracks, like the opening track ‘GARBAGE’, which explore corruption and climate change well. It starts with children laughing and birds chirping, only to be destroyed by a booming explosion. In come the plucky strings and Martinez’s soft, airy vocals. There’s banging drums and orchestral swells throughout, and the latter half descends into chaos with squealing violins, the firing of a gun, and more gritty explosions. 

Sound effects are a recurring theme on HADES. Whether it’s the phlegmy cough on ‘THE PLAGUE’ or the squeaky snap of latex gloves being removed on ‘WEIGHT WATCHERS’, they make the album sound like a movie – something Martinez is trying to find funding for.  

My only hope is that, if a movie is made, we are not subjected to seeing some of Martinez’s awful lyrics realised. I’d gladly gouge my eyes out if it meant I wouldn’t be exposed to seeing what she meant when writing, ‘cause you’re the only one, baby, who makes me wet like I’m waterboarded’ on the album’s closing track ‘THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ON EARTH’. A song which Martinez claimed, in an interview with Billboard, is a love song. Right… but isn’t being waterboarded a torture technique? Is that romantic nowadays?  

Anyway, HADES is an interesting listen, but it does feel like ‘Baby’s First political awakening’. There are instances of great execution in terms of the production; it sounds cinematic. But that doesn’t excuse some of the egregious lyricism on this project. It’s laughable, and it's made even funnier when you realise that this album was written by a thirty-year-old. But if you enjoy dark-pop production, HADES might have something for you.