Melanie Martinez - HADES [2LP Forest Abyss UK Import]

Melanie Martinez trades the pastel nursery for a cracked mirror on HADES, her fourth studio album, pressed here as a Forest Abyss coloured 2LP UK import.

Released in 2026, three years after Portals, HADES explores the dystopian side of a larger utopian and dystopian concept. Martinez has framed it as a reflection of the present rather than a prediction, using myth and allegory to dig into religion, power, gender, corruption and capitalism. Each song plays like another trap laid by the forces the title stands for.

CJ Baran produced and co-wrote much of the record with her, with Malay and Justin Greenwood among the other contributors. Possession and Disney Princess, the first two singles, set the tone with her signature mix of sugar and menace, while Uncanny Valley and The Vatican carry the album's sharpest themes into its second half.

The dark-pop production is lush and theatrical, and the album's sprawling running time spreads naturally across four sides, giving the story space to unfold at its own unsettling pace.

Debuting near the top of the US chart, HADES confirmed Martinez as one of pop's most committed world-builders. This Forest Abyss pressing suits the record's shadowy mood, a fitting companion to an album about what lurks beneath the surface.