PORTALS

Portals is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez. It was released on March 31, 2023, through Atlantic Records. It was preceded by two singles, "Death", on March 17, 2023, and "Void" on March 29, 2023.
Background
After releasing her second studio album K–12 with a musical film of the same name in 2019, Martinez released her fourth extended play, After School (2020), which served as a deluxe edition for the second studio album. However, the extended play is not connected to the musical film in terms of the timeline.
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. The singer also released a twelve-second snippet on Spotify.
Promotion
The teaser video showed a mushroom in a foggy, dream-like forest, with the phrase "RIP Crybaby" engraved in its stem (in all uppercase), accompanied by a snippet of a new song. 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".
On February 22, 2023, she uploaded a one-minute-long teaser "of herself hatching from an egg as a pink, deep sea-styled creature". 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. Before releasing the lead single of the album, Martinez revealed the album's title through her official website.
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. The single was written and produced by Martinez, with CJ Baran co-producing.