Moving on from the Cry Baby persona cultivated over her first three albums, Melanie Martinez cracks open Pandora’s box on her fourth, album HADES, to paint a grim picture of a failing society. Beginning with the fiery “GARBAGE”, the singer-songwriter employs eerie imagery coupled with her mischievous tone and complex production to tackle present-day problems across the album. And no one is safe from her sharp tongue. Airy and ethereal, “POSSESSION” brings to mind trad-wife mockery; “WHITE BOY WITH A GUN” rightly and harshly takes aim at those who “swipe and ignore”; the requiem-esque “THE VATICAN” condemns those who hide behind religion; and the guitar-laden “CHATROOM” naturally blasts online culture. While yielding a bare, honest precision, Martinez finds fault all around, but manages to harvest a beautiful—if sinister—sonic scape for her troubles. And as she pleads on “GUTTER”, she offers a solution: “Build your community, don’t get immune to this.”