Melanie Martinez teases 'Portals,' first album in four years

After posting a series of enigmatic videos with eerie, sepulchral music over the past several days, Baldwin-raised recording artist and filmmaker Melanie Martinez on Wednesday dropped a minutelong teaser trailer for her upcoming third album and first in four years: From a giant egg emerges a pink, amphibian-like female with four eyes, who stretches luxuriously and then retreats back in. A frame of graphical text gives the album's name and release date: "Portals 3.31."

The first of the videos, released Saturday, announced that Cry Baby, Martinez's alter ego on her albums "Cry Baby" (2015) and "K-12" (2019), had died, with subsequent videos surreally showing conception and the developing fetus of a rebirth. Multiplatinum music star Martinez, 27, whose songs and YouTube videos have amassed billions of streams and views, said separately in a statement, “Portals screams death is life is death is life is death is life. A continuous loop. A circle.” Set to play Lollapalooza festivals throughout South America next month, Martinez plans an international tour soon, according to her label, Atlantic Records.