BY GABI HUTSON
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Up and coming artist Melanie Martinez released her debut album Cry Baby on July 10, in the two months of its release the album has blown up and gained much deserved recognition. Martinez has an amazing voice which is no surprise since she was a contestant on The Voice back in 2012.

Previous to her album, she released the Dollhouse EP which was amazing as well, but doesn’t even compare to her full length album. Not all the songs on Dollhouse have been revised and featured on Cry Baby – only the two most popular “Carousel” and “Dollhouse” – but the other fourteen songs outshine them. Cry Baby has a theme of innocent kiddie song titles used to cover up adult situations, like “Sippy Cup,” an innocent sounding title but the song is actually about a horribly dysfunctional family with a cheating father and alcoholic mother.

There are many more examples of this on the album.

Martinez is original in her sound and ideas; never before have I seen a concept album play out so well and exceed expectations. None of Martinez’s song have yet to top charts, but I think that’s because of how new her sound is. The genre that Martinez follows is sort of like a ‘moody-pop’ where the background is usually fun and upbeat but the lyrics are thoughtful and significant. Every song on the album holds a deep meaning most of which are relatable.

Cry Baby is not only spectacular for a debut album or a newer artist but just amazing in general. We can only expect great things from Martinez as she has set a high bar for herself with her first full length album.