‘Cry Baby Is Dead:’ Melanie Martinez Ushers In New Era With ‘POSSESSION’

And just like that, Melanie Martinez is back.

The New York-born. Latin-American singer, songwriter and alt-pop phenom returns with “POSSESSION,” an edgy number built on a bed of rock.

“Welcome to Melanie Martinez’s new world order,” reads a statement accompanying the surprise release. “Cry Baby is dead.”

It’s her first new music since 2023’s Portals, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, her third consecutive top 10 appearance on the chart. Portals went all the way to No. 1 on Australia’s ARIA Chart.

The new track “peels back the ways power can masquerade as love,” read a message from Warner Music. “The song is haunting, satirical and spotlights Melanie’s trademark blend of charm, mischief and bite.”

On “POSSESSION,” Martinez tackles the ugly scenario of domestic violence, singing: “He leaves me all alone, from dusk to f—in’ dawn / I’ll clean up after all his s—, I’m the housekeeper / He comes home drunk at night, of course he picks a fight, I try my best to bite my tongue, but it keeps bleedin’.”

Martinez’s star rose in 2012 as a contestant on season 3 of The Voice. Although she didn’t collect top prize, there’s little doubt that she’s a winner, bagging 30 billion-plus career streams, upwards of 5.5 billion official YouTube views and more than 62 million followers across platforms.

Her debut album from 2015, Cry Baby, peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the perfume of the same name, which was self-released the following year and was a sell-out. Later, she partnered with Flower Shop Perfume on a perfume line, the first of which arrived in 2023 — with similar success to its predecessor. The collection has since expanded to include candles, body sprays, and perfume pendants. ​

In 2024, Martinez set out on her first-ever global arena headline trek, The Trilogy Tour, on which she played to sold-out successive nights at Madison Square Garden, and hit the stage at Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago and the Corona Capital Festival in Mexico City.

Stream “POSSESSION” below.