Building upon the conceptual ideas of her 2014 EP,
Dollhouse
,
Melanie Martinez
's 2015 full-length debut,
Cry Baby
, finds her taking the innocent imagery of youth and family ("Carousel," "Training Wheels," "Milk and Cookies") and subverting them into angular R&B and electro-infused anthems of familial strife, abuse, and romance gone wrong. An arty, self-assured singer with a style that falls somewhere between
Beyonce
and
Bjoerk
Martinez
first came to the public's attention singing
Britney Spears
' "Toxic" as a contestant on the third season of NBC's The Voice. Perhaps not surprisingly, then, her songs also fit nicely next to the work of contemporaries like
Lorde
Lana Del Rey
. As with
, aiding
on
are a handful of hip-hop and pop-steeped producers including
Kinetics & One Love
(
B.o.B
Pitbull
Neon Hitch
),
SmarterChild
Krewella
Usher
Tori Kelly
), and
Frequency
Eminem
Royce da 5'9"
Slaughterhouse
). Featured on
are the singles "Sippy Cup," "Soap," and "Pity Party." ~ Matt Collar