✨Use code BENNSHOUTS20 for 20% off at Ana Luisa ❤ ✨shop.analuisa.com/md-bennshouts #analuisany 💍 *Buy One, Get One 40% Off - available from: 23 March - 18 April*
Light Shower is even cuter when you realize that the line "I'm not use to all this water love" is a reference to how her boyfriend Verde's astrological sign is Scorpio which is a water sign 😭
Where did you read that? She said herself on her IG that this song was a love song to the shower of light that happens to souls that are in-between lives.
as someone who's been in a toxic relationship, evil hurts so fucking good. so empowering. shes saying all the things i've wanted to say for years but couldn't put into words
"You start in the womb, and you end in the tomb" quote from k-12, if you haven't watched it pls do, this woman is magical(I hope that doesn't sound creepy😅)
This album was truly her best, I’m obsessed with nymphology, the contortionist and the battle of the larynx!!! This album will definitely be on repeat for a very long time! :)))
it's so cool hearing her say "don't you battle with my larynx" cause the larynx is a scientific term for voice box, so she's basically saying don't you fight/argue with me or I'll wreck you
Fun fact, you can hear her menstrual cramps on moon cycle. Her apple music notes on each song are WILD. Also, those bones cracking are so soothing to hear lol.
I had to read her explanation on Apple Music before listening and it just goes to show how much effort and thought from beginning to end she puts in her music.
This album validated my previous trauma 😢Toxic relationships are incredibly difficult to get out of! I’m so happy Melanie got out of alive as many don’t 😭
Her best album fr. Evil >>>> This is such a great evolution for her sound and I love the rock/grunge influence on so many of these songs. Evil and Battle Of The Larynx feel very early 2000’s rock and I love it
@@bennshouts also evil feels so triumphant. She’s taking back her identity after being in such a. Bad relationship and realizing she isn’t the bad guy and she didn’t deserve that shit. She deserves to be happy and just 😭
I cried to this album. Not. 2 trauma dump but this album literally spoke to me especially void. I was recently sexually assaulted by another man and that shit changes u but this music is healing. Good job Melanie and great reaction ❤
This is what melanie said about each songs DEATH I usually have titles picked out early on in the conceptual phase of an album before even writing anything. This one was a must, and just wasn't getting it right anytime I tried writing it with other people. One day, I sat in the portal room alone and started singing melodies. I heard a spirit with a completely different tone than mine repeat a melody had sung out loud in the silence and it sent a chill down my body. I was really scared at first, then continued on, using that moment as confirmation from the other side. I laid down the chords after hours of searching through Omnisphere for an instrument that would reverberate through my soul. I added a simple drum loop in the chorus (that was later replaced by production from my favorite collaborator CJ Baran, as well as live drums from Ilan Rubin of Nine Inch Nails - who also put drums down for a couple of other songs.) When was done writing the song, that same day I played it for my best friend of 22 years who is like my sister. She had just experienced multiple losses in her family. While she was listening on headphones, tears rolled through. The song ended, she looked at me and said "that's the one." VOID This is the first song fully produced on my own, also in the portal room. The first thing I put down was that bass guitar top line. It was an exact melody from a voice memo I had recorded a few days prior. The chorus melody and lyric came all at once just from looping the bass line. I put down a simple programmed drum loop that was later replaced/mixed in with live drums by Rhys Hastings. I remember screaming that chorus while crying, it felt like a weight needed to get off of me. The weight of my anxiety, the weight of my brain, and it perfectly fit the second stage. A void. A dark place where you are left alone with your own thoughts for introspection, in order to find the light within yourself. TUNNEL VISION Wrote this song while in Hawaii in February 2021 with Kinetics & One Love. We were surrounded by coqui frogs singing to us, the sound of rain hitting the roof, and pure connection. I wanted to make a song to describe the stage of moving through a tunnel of familiar hymns and imagery. to ease the transition into the other side while also writing something with multiple meaning that people can relate to in a more earthly way. This song was leaked through a drop box hack the same year, and it took everything within me to not trash it. I couldn't rewrite a better tunnel song so it stayed. FAERIE SOIRÉE There were many days sat in the portal room wanting to create outside of my own perspective. I asked Jeff Levin (my A&R) to send me as many folders as possible of instrumental tracks created by different producers. After searching through the folders for a while, there was one track labeled "Respect Vol 1" by this producer named Hoskins that struck me. It was an infectious drum groove over a guitar top line. I wrote the song very quickly. I kept dancing to it, being overtaken by fairy energy. It felt like the stage of homecoming. Connecting with my soul family. A spirited soirée between me and my Fae guides. LIGHT SHOWER There is a place in the afterlife people under hypnosis describe as a soul cleansing or a shower of light. A place where gem-colored rays of light shine through every inch of your soul, cleansing your spirit of the trauma it had experienced during your last lifetime. Restoring you to your original vibration. I remember reading about this sitting on the roof of my garage, imagining what it would feel like while the warmth of the sun was hitting me. A few weeks later sat in my bathtub with my guitar and stayed up all night writing a love song about this light, in order to create layered meaning. This was also the very first song I ever wrote for this album. SPIDERWEB If I were to ever teach a conceptual/thematic songwriting class, this song would be a great reference point. The interconnectedness of us all that everyone under hypnosis feels, including myself when went under, is what I wanted to write about. wanted to spice it up a bit, so I found an opportunity to add double meaning for earthly resonance. So "SPIDERWEB" is also written about social media's chokehold on society. "Feeding off our highs and lows and curious to see us struggle, no one can leave once they merge." I wrote this one on my guitar in the portal room, recorded a voice memo of it and sent it to CJ. He created an incredible instrumental track for it that same day and even created the perfect drop using his own mouth sounds that gave it that extra spidery feel. LEECHES People describe a lot of the after-life to be like a school of sorts, projecting into past lifetimes with people they keep incarnating with, to put themselves in each other's shoes. Showing how they could've best dealt with conflict on earth for next time. These next few songs are about conflict on earth. I'd like to think we all plan these moments together prior to coming here, triggering each other to evolve. Living in the most vapid and isolating city of Los Angeles, I decided to write "LEECHES" about people who live here for the wrong reasons, and how they act around people in the spotlight. I wrote this over a track from that large folder originally, added some extra production stuff, then brought it to CJ who then brought in live string instrumentation for it to tug on the emotional heart strings. BATTLE OF THE LARYNX This was the last song that was written and added to the album. May of last year I went back to Hawaii to the same house I wrote "TUNNEL VISION" in. CJ came through for the last hurrah of writing sessions before we declared the album finished. pulled out my guitar and wrote the song very quickly outside. Then CJ added layers of magic to the production as he always does. Rhys recorded live drums for this song later on. He added the urgency and momentum to this song that the subject matter really was needing. I wrote this one to be about two different conflict styles - one person who yells a bunch of nothing really loudly to try and intimidate and the other who can calmly & concisely use their words & wit to prove their point. THE CONTORTIONIST I will never forget the feeling, and the intense smiles that me and CJ shared while creating this song. A true collaborative moment where we both felt the ping of our little antennas, like a loud phone call firing off. A lot of our process involved making tracks, then picking our favorites, then going into the booth and free styling Melodies, piecing together the best moments and then I would pace around the pool writing lyrics to fit the cadence of the free-styled melodies. The unhinged laughs in the chorus are the exact takes from my freestyle. This conflict song is about bending over backwards for someone who doesn't accept you as you are. MOON CYCLE I wrote this song in the portal room alone over one of the instrumental tracks in that folder that was sent to me. It was a guitar loop by Pearl Lion. On each of my albums I like to include at least one "taboo" song about something many people deal with but no one talks about in music. I wanted to write a fun, lighthearted, song about being a person who experiences menstruation. How blood represents vitality and life. I wanted the chorus to be pretty and to use analogies for bleeding that were sweet. "Juice melting like raspberry, pomegranate it's so scary, how my aura got him howling at my moon cycle baby." The rumbling sounds that lead into the song are my actual period cramps I recorded on my phone. With the conflict of patriarchal society brainwashing straight cis men to believe they should have any kind of say over other people's bodies, and also the general kind of ick that they get from the discussion of menstruation, I wanted to make the song extra uncomfy for them by going on to describe a man who lives for period sex! NYMPHOLOGY Wrote this song with CJ and Nick long. It was a really fun session. We made a bunch of different vibes and this one stuck out to us the most. wanted it to be bratty and a commentary piece on the box a lot of men put femme presenting people in when they call us names like "manic pixie dream girl." Being forced to play the role of mom & healer, while they gaslight you & call you crazy the minute you communicate how you feel. & The ending interlude of this song is actually called "Amulet." My partner Verde was cleaning out his computer and an instrumental randomly started playing & my ears perked up. It was a track he had produced years ago that was just sitting there collecting digital dust. I immediately wrote over it, but writing a full song for it was difficult. I loved it so much and had no idea what to do with it. One day in the studio I randomly was like hmm maybe "Amulet" can be an interlude after a song, and as fate had it the very the last note of "NYMPHOLOGY" is the very first note of "Amulet." A perfect puzzle piece. EVIL My favorite of the conflict songs! CJ laid down guitar and looped it, I paced around the pool and wrote the lyric and melody in around 30 minutes. Flowed really easily and effortlessly. I think it's because I just had a mental turning point where was finally able to articulate perfectly what I had dealt with in my last relationship. I wanted the lyrics to be the most savage and the most cunty. Every time I wrote something was like no it's not mean enough. It's about dealing with a narcissist who ironically calls you evil just because you're able to see through their bullshit. I spent the entire day blowing out my vocals recording it. It was definitely the most challenging song to sing
WOMB I knew I wanted the album to end on the title "WOMB." This was one of the earliest songs written in 2020. Had a session one day with Omer Fedi as part of a week of sessions had with different people. Omer started playing these guitar chords that were so beautiful, I asked him to play it on loop while I stared at the corner of the room quickly writing lyrics. CJ and had Rhys come in and record live drums around 2 years later to complete it. This song was written from the perspective of entering a new lifetime. The feeling of nerves and excitement that arise when you're about to forget everything you know about your true self as a soul in order to let your human experience on earth move your progression forward.
battle of the larynx and nymphology are definitely my faves and probably my favourite songs she ever released. actually, this is her best album imo. i really like to see her experimenting new sounds and this album genuinely got me impressed. wasn't expecting it to be so good.
Evil says all the things I could never say to my mother and it is so liberating to listen to. Also the contortionist speaks to me on the level of how family, teachers and past partners made me feel
Your reaction was so pure, honest and positive, I enjoyed this video so much!! A lot of guys have problems with showing real emotion but you did it effortlessly, mad respect ❤Void, spider web and evil are my absolute favorites, the emotion, the delicate messages, metaphors, "tangled in my own intestines", the ethereal beats...i actually decided to include void in my world building, its mainly the story of an enslaved fairy race(bred to only be decorative dancers and musicians for humans) that suddenly discovered freedom, then one fairy sings this song as a symbol of cultural self-discovery and all unite to build their own fairy society on top of the ruins of their former masters temples, a few hundret years later the song changes to a ritual where all the citisens sing Evil as a metaphor of growth after mistreatment, together and as a sign to stand up against manipulators and abusers
I say this with the most due respect and love for your reactions and content but I’ve rewatched your reaction to Evil many times after you’ve uploaded this only to vibe and cry with you. Seeing people cry makes my sensitive ass cry and it’s just such a raw real reaction from you and I can’t stop vibing with you. The tears are worth it
This is my favorite album so far, i don’t think I’ve ever ugly cried and laughed before haha. You did an amazing job listening and appreciating the music. 💕🧚🏼♀️
Melanie reads a lot of books and things about the after life and hypnosis. And light shower is also about a place people call a soul cleansing or shower of light where your soul is cleansed of the trauma you experienced in your lifetime and she wrote a love song for it
Tunnel Vision, Faerie Soirée, Leeches and Moon Cycle leaked about 2 years ago. Different version of Death and Void leaked as well, but they were reworked.
I LOVE this album!! ❤ loved your reaction, I love how you're so open with your emotions and just vibing with the music, but taking stuff away from it straight away is beautiful, it's incredible, it's so heartbreaking, beautiful, fun, emotional, it's just a fantastic album all round!!! She's so musically talented Gonna sub P.s your teeth are perfect wtf??? Jealous
Just recently found your channel from your Mars Argo reaction and was so pleased to see you do such a genuine and thoughtful review of Portals! I have been listening to it NON STOP over the past few days and I really agreed with your overall thoughts :) No weak songs but the standouts were really really really good. Personally I'm torn between Void, Nymphology, and Evil as being my top song from the album. good thing I don't actually have to choose!! Love and respect for the great video
Ben, Ben, Ben! I'm currently on the road but I just got notified of you reacting to this album and I am SO keen to watch your reaction as soon as I can because I swear this album killed me and brought me back to life.
@@bennshoutsyour reaction to "Evil" made me want to give you a hug! The transition between "Nymphology" and "Evil" is sooooo good. I've been saying "I am too many karats for your budget, ask the jeweler" all day lol.
portals is my favorite project from her. i have been absolutely obsessed with every aspect of it and i've listened to it more than i'm willing to admit. i love how she makes you feel everything. the first half of the album was essentially her fighting against death itself, her insecurities, people who used her and people who didnt see her for her worth. and when it cameto the end of leeches and the start of battle of the larynx she finally found her voice and was able to take back the power that was stripped from her. you feel everything so deeply with her lyricsm and i think thats so brilliant. i like to think of evil being the perfect ending because its so powerful and she's just belting that she doesn't care anymore if putting herself first makes her 'evil'. i see womb more of a bridge between the purgatory that she went through in the album and the new life that she is eager to start. portals is just so well made and melanie is hands down one of the best artists and songwriter of our generation. i respect her so much
Spider Web is a metaphor for the internet. “No one can leave once they merge” “To build a web that’ll spread through the world. “Up all night, bound to their addiction to it, Lifeless eyes, they die in the pit of the spider web”
I really love your reactions! So honest and I like how you keep vibing to the music as you react.😂 This album is really good, though I miss Needle and Thread, Sirens, Garden, Dragons Blood, and Synchronicities. I sure hope we get a little more of those in the deluxe.
It sooo interesting to see how most people loved Evil and Nymphology and I would rank them with the ones I will listen the least - I loooved The Contortionist, Tunnel vision the most also the latest Milk of the siren is BOMB. Love Portals as a whole so much and your reacion as well ❤
@@bennshouts I cried with you 😭😭😭 In fact, it's very nice that you're not afraid to show your emotions! It's literally the most sincere reaction in the world... Thank you! 💖
PORTALS and Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd are the top tier albums of the year for me and can't be topped. These two records are top written, top composed, top produced, top created, the quality is so high, they're genius. PORTALS like an album and individually tracks have 3, 4, 5 meanings and all of them are so deep and smartly made. Melanie is so underrated.
I love the album so much but unpopular opinion I think I dont rlly like light shower or the contorist 😮 BUT THE REST IS A FLIPPING BOP I love Evil The battle of the larynx I love mooncycle void death and womb!!! Also tunnel vision and nyphomology and faerie soriee ❤
Portals Album (Title and the meaning behind the songs) 1. Death - All about process of dying and transition to afterlife where they are able to return to living world and interact with those they left behind 2. Void - Inner struggles, mental health and self reflection/judgement. The person is trying to escape the "Void" which is her thoughts and emotions that affects her mental health. 3. Tunnel Vision - About someone who is not interested in being objectified or pursued solely for their physical appearance or sexual appeal. The lyrics suggest that the person is aware of the superficiality of such attention and rejects it, choosing instead to focus on their own value and worth beyond physical appearance. 4. Faerie Soiree - I'm not sure about this one but I think it's about escaping reality and searching for sense of belonging. Losing sense of self through mixed emotions (magic). It also talks about gender fluidity where the person finally finds themselves where they belong i think? 5. Light shower - finding someone who brings light and positivity into the the life of a person and helps them overcome their past struggles. Being cleansed and refreshed by this person's love and how it can heal emotional wounds. 6. Spider Web - It's about addiction or obsession to something (technology, social media or etc.) That leads a person's life to a lifeless existence. Being stuck in a cycle, surrounded by things that distract them from reality. 7. Leeches - about someone being surrounded by people who drain them emotionally and psychologically, like leeches. The person feels used and manipulated by those individuals, who are only interested in their own benefit and don't care about the damage they caused. Also talk about powerlessness because the person is unavle to escape or resist the "leeches""
8. Battle of the larynx - About standing up for oneself and not engaging in meaningless arguments or battles with others who are trying to provoke them and prove their point. The person chooses to remain silent but if you cross the line, it's over, it's done. 9. The contortionist - Toxic relationship in which the person feels trapped and manipulated. Being tied up in knots emotionally and being pushed to their limits. The person is on their breaking point "I'M DONE!" and is ready to end the relationship. 10. Moon Cycle - About how women experienced and feel menstruation on the day to day basis and how it can affect their emotions. Being resilient despite the pain and discomfort, and criticism of others who underestimate or dismiss the impact of menstruation. Basically about strong "WOMANHOOD" 11. Nymphology - About rejecting the trope of being a "manic pixie dream girl" and instead embracing one's own identity as powerful and independent woman. The person rejects the idea of being a passive object of desire for men and call out the selfishness and ignorance of those who try to claim expertise in "nymphology" ( a made up term meant to mock the idea of reducing women to mythical creatures or an object of desire). It also references the idea of being too valuable and rare for others to afford or fully understand. 12. Evil - About the person finally deciding to end the relationship and moving on. The person is no longer willing to tolerate mistreatment or lies from the person they referring to. The person see themselves as "Evil" because they have finally stood up for themselves and they are being seen as "EVIL" by the person they left because they understand the person's redflag and bullshits 13. Womb - Being born again and revival after the "afterlife" (the emotional circus of life). Also describes the mother's suffering during process of birthing a child. The last part which is "life is death is life" depicts a cycle of life because it transitions to the first track "Death" which started with "Death is life is Death
I love death,tunnel vision,spider web,void,light shower, the contorsionist , nymphology, leeches, evil, womb and battle of larynx most of them are so good best album yet❤
Honestly I didn’t thinks siren would fit on here since this is about hypnotherapy and life regression and she said some of those songs weren’t even for this album. I think however needle y thread was suppose to be on the album since that speaks about life regression and I agree needle and thread was so good! Sirens may be on the deluxe tho since her deluxe songs are usually a bit different. Let’s manifest together
✨Use code BENNSHOUTS20 for 20% off at Ana Luisa ❤
✨shop.analuisa.com/md-bennshouts #analuisany 💍
*Buy One, Get One 40% Off - available from: 23 March - 18 April*
New Álbum da Ellie Goulding
Light Shower is even cuter when you realize that the line "I'm not use to all this water love" is a reference to how her boyfriend Verde's astrological sign is Scorpio which is a water sign 😭
omg stoppppppppp! 😭
didnt know about that tho
Where did you read that? She said herself on her IG that this song was a love song to the shower of light that happens to souls that are in-between lives.
3:20 Death
5:43 Void
8:35 Tunnel vision
11:47 Faerie Soirée
13:15 Light shower
15:55 Spider web
18:01 leeches
20:21 Battle of the larinx
23:00 The contortionist
25:08 Moon cycle
26:56 Nymphology
29:51 Evil
33:03 Womb
34:53 Final thoughts
Thank youuuu!!😊😊
The wrong one on the video be like 👁️👄👁️
as someone who's been in a toxic relationship, evil hurts so fucking good. so empowering. shes saying all the things i've wanted to say for years but couldn't put into words
Makes me so happy that you have a voice through this song! But also so sad that you had to experience it! 💙💙💙💙💙
evil is my favorite song on the album! it's freeing and just hits so damn hard. sorry to hear you had to go through that :(
You and me both! ❤
Evil destroyed me the lyrics hit so hard
truly to the SOUL !!!
Me too! It’s got the Mad Hatter position on Portals the conclusion vibes
The lyrics, the vocals, the production, its such a fuck you type of bop
I love how it starts with DEATH, and ends with WOMB and loops back around, hinting at crybaby’s rebirth!! I love the transitions aswell
yesss the perfect loop!!!
"You start in the womb, and you end in the tomb" quote from k-12, if you haven't watched it pls do, this woman is magical(I hope that doesn't sound creepy😅)
This album was truly her best, I’m obsessed with nymphology, the contortionist and the battle of the larynx!!! This album will definitely be on repeat for a very long time! :)))
literally!
ALL MY FAVS WITH EVIL
nymphology is so good
18:38 “this is gross- but pretty 😻” is literally the definition of her music and style
literally haha!
so good to see Evil getting the recognition it deserves
HER BEST
@@bennshouts on god
@@jenniferthecloud1475 No 😈
@@greendarkness2627i never knew what it meant
@@dakiz5080 what it meant to be content with u
*THIS ALBUM IS A BOP FROM BEGINNING TO END*
literallyyyyyy
THIS ALBUM IS THIS YEARS SPRING/SUMMERS ALBUM. 💕✨🦋💕
YESSSSSSS~! 🐛🪲
it's so cool hearing her say "don't you battle with my larynx" cause the larynx is a scientific term for voice box, so she's basically saying don't you fight/argue with me or I'll wreck you
YASSSS
Fun fact, you can hear her menstrual cramps on moon cycle. Her apple music notes on each song are WILD. Also, those bones cracking are so soothing to hear lol.
SO MUCH CONTENT! Haha
Omg those cracking nosies 😭😭😭😂😂
I had to read her explanation on Apple Music before listening and it just goes to show how much effort and thought from beginning to end she puts in her music.
This album validated my previous trauma 😢Toxic relationships are incredibly difficult to get out of! I’m so happy Melanie got out of alive as many don’t 😭
🥺🥺😭😭😭😭
I’m so happy you got out alive too 💛💚
why cant i heal throughout music still? :(
Her best album fr. Evil >>>>
This is such a great evolution for her sound and I love the rock/grunge influence on so many of these songs. Evil and Battle Of The Larynx feel very early 2000’s rock and I love it
YES YES YES
@@bennshouts also evil feels so triumphant. She’s taking back her identity after being in such a. Bad relationship and realizing she isn’t the bad guy and she didn’t deserve that shit. She deserves to be happy and just 😭
YES YES YES YES!!!!!! It's going to be an anthem for so many people!!
I cant believe it’s been 4 years after k-12 was released and we were waiting for another album, now it’s already here :,)
now when's the next? 😛
@@bennshouts we still have a movie coming for portals!!
FOUR YEARS???!! Omg
I cried to this album. Not. 2 trauma dump but this album literally spoke to me especially void. I was recently sexually assaulted by another man and that shit changes u but this music is healing. Good job Melanie and great reaction ❤
I'm with you I think this album is gonna feel therapeutic for lots of people. Wishing you well on your journey healing. ❤
I am so sorry you went through that ❤️ and thankful that this music can be there for you! ❤️❤️
It really does change you. I was scared to become something I knew I was not. I am trying everything to make sure I don’t sink to a treacherous level.
@@Probablylani I feel that 100% but don’t worry mamas we are strong. Don’t let that shit tear you down. Much love sent your way ❤️
*TIMELAPSE:*
Death - 3:20
Void - 5:43
Tunnel Vision - 8:37
Faerie Soirée - 11:48
Light Shower - 13:17
Spider Web - 15:56
Leeches - 18:02
Battle Of The Larynx - 20:23
The Contortionist - 23:00
Moon Cycle - 25:09
Nymphology - 26:56
Evil - 29:52
Womb - 33:03
🐛🕷🐞🍄
This is what melanie said about each songs
DEATH
I usually have titles picked out early on in the conceptual phase of an album before even writing anything. This one was a must, and just wasn't getting it right anytime I tried writing it with other people. One day, I sat in the portal room alone and started singing melodies. I heard a spirit with a completely different tone than mine repeat a melody had sung out loud in the silence and it sent a chill down my body. I was really scared at first, then continued on, using that moment as confirmation from the other side. I laid down the chords after hours of searching through Omnisphere for an instrument that would reverberate through my soul. I added a simple drum loop in the chorus (that was later replaced by production from my favorite collaborator CJ Baran, as well as live drums from Ilan Rubin of Nine Inch Nails - who also put drums down for a couple of other songs.) When was done writing the song, that same day I played it for my best friend of 22 years who is like my sister. She had just experienced multiple losses in her family. While she was listening on headphones, tears rolled through. The song ended, she looked at me and said "that's the one."
VOID
This is the first song fully produced on my own, also in the portal room. The first thing I put down was that bass guitar top line. It was an exact melody from a voice memo I had recorded a few days prior. The chorus melody and lyric came all at once just from looping the bass line. I put down a simple programmed drum loop that was later replaced/mixed in with live drums by Rhys Hastings. I remember screaming that chorus while crying, it felt like a weight needed to get off of me. The weight of my anxiety, the weight of my brain, and it perfectly fit the second stage. A void. A dark place where you are left alone with your own thoughts for introspection, in order to find the light within yourself.
TUNNEL VISION
Wrote this song while in Hawaii in February 2021 with Kinetics & One Love. We were surrounded by coqui frogs singing to us, the sound of rain hitting the roof, and pure connection. I wanted to make a song to describe the stage of moving through a tunnel of familiar hymns and imagery. to ease the transition into the other side while also writing something with multiple meaning that people can relate to in a more earthly way. This song was leaked through a drop box hack the same year, and it took everything within me to not trash it. I couldn't rewrite a better tunnel song so it stayed.
FAERIE SOIRÉE
There were many days sat in the portal room wanting to create outside of my own perspective. I asked Jeff Levin (my A&R) to send me as many folders as possible of instrumental tracks created by different producers. After searching through the folders for a while, there was one track labeled "Respect Vol 1" by this producer named Hoskins that struck me. It was an infectious drum groove over a guitar top line. I wrote the song very quickly. I kept dancing to it, being overtaken by fairy energy. It felt like the stage of homecoming. Connecting with my soul family. A spirited soirée between me and my Fae guides.
LIGHT SHOWER
There is a place in the afterlife people under hypnosis describe as a soul cleansing or a shower of light. A place where gem-colored rays of light shine through every inch of your soul, cleansing your spirit of the trauma it had experienced during your last lifetime. Restoring you to your original vibration. I remember reading about this sitting on the roof of my garage, imagining what it would feel like while the warmth of the sun was hitting me. A few weeks later sat in my bathtub with my guitar and stayed up all night writing a love song about this light, in order to create layered meaning. This was also the very first song I ever wrote for this album.
SPIDERWEB
If I were to ever teach a conceptual/thematic songwriting class, this song would be a great reference point. The interconnectedness of us all that everyone under hypnosis feels, including myself when went under, is what I wanted to write about. wanted to spice it up a bit, so I found an opportunity to add double meaning for earthly resonance. So "SPIDERWEB" is also written about social media's chokehold on society. "Feeding off our highs and lows and curious to see us struggle, no one can leave once they merge." I wrote this one on my guitar in the portal room, recorded a voice memo of it and sent it to CJ. He created an incredible instrumental track for it that same day and even created the perfect drop using his own mouth sounds that gave it that extra spidery feel.
LEECHES
People describe a lot of the after-life to be like a school of sorts, projecting into past lifetimes with people they keep incarnating with, to put themselves in each other's shoes. Showing how they could've best dealt with conflict on earth for next time. These next few songs are about conflict on earth. I'd like to think we all plan these moments together prior to coming here, triggering each other to evolve. Living in the most vapid and isolating city of Los Angeles, I decided to write "LEECHES" about people who live here for the wrong reasons, and how they act around people in the spotlight. I wrote this over a track from that large folder originally, added some extra production stuff, then brought it to CJ who then brought in live string instrumentation for it to tug on the emotional heart strings.
BATTLE OF THE LARYNX
This was the last song that was written and added to the album. May of last year I went back to Hawaii to the same house I wrote "TUNNEL VISION" in. CJ came through for the last hurrah of writing sessions before we declared the album finished. pulled out my guitar and wrote the song very quickly outside. Then CJ added layers of magic to the production as he always does. Rhys recorded live drums for this song later on. He added the urgency and momentum to this song that the subject matter really was needing. I wrote this one to be about two different conflict styles - one person who yells a bunch of nothing really loudly to try and intimidate and the other who can calmly & concisely use their words & wit to prove their point.
THE CONTORTIONIST
I will never forget the feeling, and the intense smiles that me and CJ shared while creating this song. A true collaborative moment where we both felt the ping of our little antennas, like a loud phone call firing off. A lot of our process involved making tracks, then picking our favorites, then going into the booth and free styling Melodies, piecing together the best moments and then I would pace around the pool writing lyrics to fit the cadence of the free-styled melodies. The unhinged laughs in the chorus are the exact takes from my freestyle. This conflict song is about bending over backwards for someone who doesn't accept you as you are.
MOON CYCLE
I wrote this song in the portal room alone over one of the instrumental tracks in that folder that was sent to me. It was a guitar loop by Pearl Lion. On each of my albums I like to include at least one "taboo" song about something many people deal with but no one talks about in music. I wanted to write a fun, lighthearted, song about being a person who experiences menstruation. How blood represents vitality and life. I wanted the chorus to be pretty and to use analogies for bleeding that were sweet. "Juice melting like raspberry, pomegranate it's so scary, how my aura got him howling at my moon cycle baby." The rumbling sounds that lead into the song are my actual period cramps I recorded on my phone. With the conflict of patriarchal society brainwashing straight cis men to believe they should have any kind of say over other people's bodies, and also the general kind of ick that they get from the discussion of menstruation, I wanted to make the song extra uncomfy for them by going on to describe a man who lives for period sex!
NYMPHOLOGY
Wrote this song with CJ and Nick long. It was a really fun session. We made a bunch of different vibes and this one stuck out to us the most. wanted it to be bratty and a commentary piece on the box a lot of men put femme presenting people in when they call us names like "manic pixie dream girl." Being forced to play the role of mom & healer, while they gaslight you & call you crazy the minute you communicate how you feel.
& The ending interlude of this song is actually called "Amulet." My partner Verde was cleaning out his computer and an instrumental randomly started playing & my ears perked up. It was a track he had produced years ago that was just sitting there collecting digital dust. I immediately wrote over it, but writing a full song for it was difficult. I loved it so much and had no idea what to do with it. One day in the studio I randomly was like hmm maybe "Amulet" can be an interlude after a song, and as fate had it the very the last note of "NYMPHOLOGY" is the very first note of "Amulet." A perfect puzzle piece.
EVIL
My favorite of the conflict songs! CJ laid down guitar and looped it, I paced around the pool and wrote the lyric and melody in around 30 minutes. Flowed really easily and effortlessly. I think it's because I just had a mental turning point where was finally able to articulate perfectly what I had dealt with in my last relationship. I wanted the lyrics to be the most savage and the most cunty. Every time I wrote something was like no it's not mean enough. It's about dealing with a narcissist who ironically calls you evil just because you're able to see through their bullshit. I spent the entire day blowing out my vocals recording it. It was definitely the most challenging song to sing
WOMB
I knew I wanted the album to end on the title "WOMB." This was one of the earliest songs written in 2020. Had a session one day with Omer Fedi as part of a week of sessions had with different people. Omer started playing these guitar chords that were so beautiful, I asked him to play it on loop while I stared at the corner of the room quickly writing lyrics. CJ and had Rhys come in and record live drums around 2 years later to complete it. This song was written from the perspective of entering a new lifetime. The feeling of nerves and excitement that arise when you're about to forget everything you know about your true self as a soul in order to let your human experience on earth move your progression forward.
thank you!!!! 💖
THANK YOU SM 🫶🏾 Melanie is a genius truly outstanding
battle of the larynx and nymphology are definitely my faves and probably my favourite songs she ever released. actually, this is her best album imo. i really like to see her experimenting new sounds and this album genuinely got me impressed. wasn't expecting it to be so good.
evil is TOOOOOOO good i’ve been screaming it on repeat LMFAOO
HAHAHAH YESSSSSS
she literally ate omg
literally!!!!
"The void ate me" no YOU ATE MEL
ate? SHE DEVOURED
This álbum is perfection! 🧚♀️🧚♀️🧚♀️🧚♀️🧚♀️✨🛐
truly !!! 🍄
i really love your reaction on this masterpiece WHAT AN ALBUM INDEED!! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
thank you so much!! 🥹 it truly is art!
Omg the way u cry under evil !!! Im tearing up now same lol. love u and ur reaction.
Nymphology, light shower and evil are my faves 😭💗
YESSSSSS
YESS 💯 AGREED
the way we had the same reaction to evil, her magnum opus so far me thinks
literally, I cannot get over it ! 😭
Evil says all the things I could never say to my mother and it is so liberating to listen to. Also the contortionist speaks to me on the level of how family, teachers and past partners made me feel
Your reaction was so pure, honest and positive, I enjoyed this video so much!! A lot of guys have problems with showing real emotion but you did it effortlessly, mad respect ❤Void, spider web and evil are my absolute favorites, the emotion, the delicate messages, metaphors, "tangled in my own intestines", the ethereal beats...i actually decided to include void in my world building, its mainly the story of an enslaved fairy race(bred to only be decorative dancers and musicians for humans) that suddenly discovered freedom, then one fairy sings this song as a symbol of cultural self-discovery and all unite to build their own fairy society on top of the ruins of their former masters temples, a few hundret years later the song changes to a ritual where all the citisens sing Evil as a metaphor of growth after mistreatment, together and as a sign to stand up against manipulators and abusers
Omg thank you SO much! I loved loved loved the world you've created with the songs, so fitting and perfect 🥹🧚🏻♀️🖤
@@bennshouts thank you, im so happy you enjoy it!
The album is so good! King of Reactions, thank you for this!✨️✨️✨️🤩
Hehe, thank YOU!!! 🕷
You feel so much emotion and I just love it. Just a kind and empathetic person
tysm!
I say this with the most due respect and love for your reactions and content but I’ve rewatched your reaction to Evil many times after you’ve uploaded this only to vibe and cry with you. Seeing people cry makes my sensitive ass cry and it’s just such a raw real reaction from you and I can’t stop vibing with you. The tears are worth it
Aww, this is what reactions are for! Thank you! ❤️
Evil really be hitting :’) whole album is amazing & I loved the reaction really did feel like it flew by!
thank you!!!!
This album is such an experience!
it is ARTTTTTTTT
looooved this reaction! you seem like such a cool person
aww thank you!!
This is my favorite album so far, i don’t think I’ve ever ugly cried and laughed before haha. You did an amazing job listening and appreciating the music. 💕🧚🏼♀️
Melanie reads a lot of books and things about the after life and hypnosis. And light shower is also about a place people call a soul cleansing or shower of light where your soul is cleansed of the trauma you experienced in your lifetime and she wrote a love song for it
oh wow, I love this!!!
Tunnel Vision, Faerie Soirée, Leeches and Moon Cycle leaked about 2 years ago. Different version of Death and Void leaked as well, but they were reworked.
Can't wait for the mvs, they will probably be beautiful like death's one
loved your honest reaction
thank you!!! 🥰
Melanie is like the baby of purity ring and bjork ❤
ive been WAITING! love her so much
😍😍😍😍
I LOVE this album!! ❤ loved your reaction, I love how you're so open with your emotions and just vibing with the music, but taking stuff away from it straight away is beautiful, it's incredible, it's so heartbreaking, beautiful, fun, emotional, it's just a fantastic album all round!!! She's so musically talented
Gonna sub
P.s your teeth are perfect wtf??? Jealous
AWW TYSM!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺
She gave us what she promised and so much more
gave us everythingggggggg
@@bennshouts btw, have u reacted to k-12?
the album, yep! not the film yet hehe
@@bennshouts ooooh I'll be waiting for this react lol
You just got a subscriber!! 👍
eee thank you!!!
Just recently found your channel from your Mars Argo reaction and was so pleased to see you do such a genuine and thoughtful review of Portals! I have been listening to it NON STOP over the past few days and I really agreed with your overall thoughts :)
No weak songs but the standouts were really really really good. Personally I'm torn between Void, Nymphology, and Evil as being my top song from the album. good thing I don't actually have to choose!! Love and respect for the great video
Aww thank you so much! Honestly mean so much reading that!!
@@bennshouts Of course!! Your work is really appreciated :). Super random but Melanie just released 3 more songs via the deluxe release of the album!!
I was waiting FOR YOUR VIDEO YEAAAAA I LOVE UU🫶🏼🫶🏼
EEEEEEEE, thank you!!!!! 🥹
@@bennshouts OFCCC
LOVE THIS REACTION, GODDAMN SUCH A GOOD ALBUM. wow!!!!
Thank YOUUUU XXX
Ben, Ben, Ben! I'm currently on the road but I just got notified of you reacting to this album and I am SO keen to watch your reaction as soon as I can because I swear this album killed me and brought me back to life.
Eeee! Take your time! It will be here when you’re ready!!! 🖤🖤🖤
@@bennshoutsyour reaction to "Evil" made me want to give you a hug! The transition between "Nymphology" and "Evil" is sooooo good. I've been saying "I am too many karats for your budget, ask the jeweler" all day lol.
@@bronaghisgay Aww thank you!!!
It's so worth it waiting for this album👽💕
agreed!
portals is my favorite project from her. i have been absolutely obsessed with every aspect of it and i've listened to it more than i'm willing to admit. i love how she makes you feel everything. the first half of the album was essentially her fighting against death itself, her insecurities, people who used her and people who didnt see her for her worth. and when it cameto the end of leeches and the start of battle of the larynx she finally found her voice and was able to take back the power that was stripped from her. you feel everything so deeply with her lyricsm and i think thats so brilliant. i like to think of evil being the perfect ending because its so powerful and she's just belting that she doesn't care anymore if putting herself first makes her 'evil'. i see womb more of a bridge between the purgatory that she went through in the album and the new life that she is eager to start. portals is just so well made and melanie is hands down one of the best artists and songwriter of our generation. i respect her so much
Spider Web is a metaphor for the internet. “No one can leave once they merge” “To build a web that’ll spread through the world. “Up all night, bound to their addiction to it, Lifeless eyes, they die in the pit of the spider web”
i love portals sm i’m kinda sad that it’s the last album that follows crybaby’s storyline. my favorites are nymphology, void & evil rn
totally agree with all of this!!
IT IS??? DONT MAKE ME CRY
@@uhohitspriscilla yea i knowww sadly i saw it on her instagram story in an interview:(
I really love your reactions! So honest and I like how you keep vibing to the music as you react.😂 This album is really good, though I miss Needle and Thread, Sirens, Garden, Dragons Blood, and Synchronicities. I sure hope we get a little more of those in the deluxe.
Thank you! 🥰 Yesss so keen for a deluxe!!!
Love your react! Hug from Brazil 🇧🇷💞🧚♂️🍄
luv luv this album, feel like it gets even better each time you listen, the contortionist is my absolute fave i can't get enough
hahaha yessss
I love your reactions sfm 😭🤍🤍
thank you 😭😭😭
My favorite is also evil and tunnel vision ❤ loveeed ur reaction. React to the movie when it comes out pls
thank you sm!! and yes, I will get to all her films!
the Deluxe edition has 3 more songs! please make a reaction video for them!!! 🥰
its uppppp
It sooo interesting to see how most people loved Evil and Nymphology and I would rank them with the ones I will listen the least - I loooved The Contortionist, Tunnel vision the most also the latest Milk of the siren is BOMB.
Love Portals as a whole so much and your reacion as well ❤
I LOVE MELANIE😭😭😭😭💜
Love your reaction ❤
Thank you! ❣️
I also cried under Evil 😭😭😭
it got me so good omg!
@@bennshouts I cried with you 😭😭😭
In fact, it's very nice that you're not afraid to show your emotions! It's literally the most sincere reaction in the world... Thank you! 💖
@@onllo 🥹 thank you omg best compliment
@@bennshouts 😭💖
Bro the outro verse of tunnel vision has me floating
🧚🏻🧚🏻🧚🏻
OMG SAME IS JUST SO GOOD
Void and Evil are her best songs 🧚♀️🧚♀️🧚♀️🧚♀️
yesss! 🧚🏻🧚🏻🧚🏻
Wow men what a journey 💯🔥
Literally 🤯🤯
I've been waiting for you to react to this ! ❤
hehe, wait no more! 💖
i loved this reaction !! you have really insightful comments. my fav’s are the contortionist, tunnel vision and battle of the larynx :)
Thank you so much! 💙 Yessss BOTL has grown on me so much!!
Your smile is *so* beautiful... 🫠
🥹🥹 ty!!!
@@bennshouts you're welcome! ^^
Idk if this album is better than Crybaby cause that was iconic af but it's very close 😩
RIGHT?!?!?! 🧚🏻
love ur reactions!!!!!
thank you!!! 🕷
PORTALS and Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd are the top tier albums of the year for me and can't be topped. These two records are top written, top composed, top produced, top created, the quality is so high, they're genius. PORTALS like an album and individually tracks have 3, 4, 5 meanings and all of them are so deep and smartly made. Melanie is so underrated.
I really like ur reaction
thanku!! 💙
GET THAT BAG KING
😘😘😘
The crying is so real
✨🔥Evil my song🔥✨
Such a great reaction!! ❤️
Thank you sm!!! 🐞
Legitimately reacted the exact same with contortionist loved it but every time I heard a bone crack I squirmed 😅
HAHA right?! so gross but... so good :P
Instant subscribe! Loved your reaction and Tunnel Vision is soooo Melanie and Crybaby Vibes LOVE ITTTT
thank you sm!!! 🥹🐛
loved it 🩷
yesssss!!
Thank you
❤️❤️
Yeah best album ever but literally Evil killed me I was crying and singing along every time it came on.❤❤
can't get over it!
the way you dance reminds me of paul breech
good morning
hehe morning!
can people stop vent in this comment section or just post a tw like- 😭😭😭
I love the album so much but unpopular opinion I think I dont rlly like light shower or the contorist 😮 BUT THE REST IS A FLIPPING BOP I love Evil The battle of the larynx I love mooncycle void death and womb!!! Also tunnel vision and nyphomology and faerie soriee ❤
Totally fine if you don't vibe with certain songs!
The sound after the contortionist is her period cramps she recorded for the transition into moon cycle
omg I love this!
React to the deluxe please
nymphology is catchy and rhyme
I love ur reactions!! Hope ur doing well
thank you!!
Battle of leches I cant 😂
Portals Album (Title and the meaning behind the songs)
1. Death - All about process of dying and transition to afterlife where they are able to return to living world and interact with those they left behind
2. Void - Inner struggles, mental health and self reflection/judgement. The person is trying to escape the "Void" which is her thoughts and emotions that affects her mental health.
3. Tunnel Vision - About someone who is not interested in being objectified or pursued solely for their physical appearance or sexual appeal. The lyrics suggest that the person is aware of the superficiality of such attention and rejects it, choosing instead to focus on their own value and worth beyond physical appearance.
4. Faerie Soiree - I'm not sure about this one but I think it's about escaping reality and searching for sense of belonging. Losing sense of self through mixed emotions (magic). It also talks about gender fluidity where the person finally finds themselves where they belong i think?
5. Light shower - finding someone who brings light and positivity into the the life of a person and helps them overcome their past struggles. Being cleansed and refreshed by this person's love and how it can heal emotional wounds.
6. Spider Web - It's about addiction or obsession to something (technology, social media or etc.) That leads a person's life to a lifeless existence. Being stuck in a cycle, surrounded by things that distract them from reality.
7. Leeches - about someone being surrounded by people who drain them emotionally and psychologically, like leeches. The person feels used and manipulated by those individuals, who are only interested in their own benefit and don't care about the damage they caused. Also talk about powerlessness because the person is unavle to escape or resist the "leeches""
8. Battle of the larynx - About standing up for oneself and not engaging in meaningless arguments or battles with others who are trying to provoke them and prove their point. The person chooses to remain silent but if you cross the line, it's over, it's done.
9. The contortionist - Toxic relationship in which the person feels trapped and manipulated. Being tied up in knots emotionally and being pushed to their limits. The person is on their breaking point "I'M DONE!" and is ready to end the relationship.
10. Moon Cycle - About how women experienced and feel menstruation on the day to day basis and how it can affect their emotions. Being resilient despite the pain and discomfort, and criticism of others who underestimate or dismiss the impact of menstruation. Basically about strong "WOMANHOOD"
11. Nymphology - About rejecting the trope of being a "manic pixie dream girl" and instead embracing one's own identity as powerful and independent woman. The person rejects the idea of being a passive object of desire for men and call out the selfishness and ignorance of those who try to claim expertise in "nymphology" ( a made up term meant to mock the idea of reducing women to mythical creatures or an object of desire). It also references the idea of being too valuable and rare for others to afford or fully understand.
12. Evil - About the person finally deciding to end the relationship and moving on. The person is no longer willing to tolerate mistreatment or lies from the person they referring to. The person see themselves as "Evil" because they have finally stood up for themselves and they are being seen as "EVIL" by the person they left because they understand the person's redflag and bullshits
13. Womb - Being born again and revival after the "afterlife" (the emotional circus of life). Also describes the mother's suffering during process of birthing a child. The last part which is "life is death is life" depicts a cycle of life because it transitions to the first track "Death" which started with "Death is life is Death
Starts with the death and end with womb!! Evil made him full on cry!!
it got me good!
I love death,tunnel vision,spider web,void,light shower, the contorsionist , nymphology, leeches, evil, womb and battle of larynx most of them are so good best album yet❤
HAHA you basically listed the entire album! love it 🧚🏻
I will forever be mad she kept leeches but discarded Sirens and Needle & Thread. But besides that, I was pleasantly surprised by the album.
awww I love leeches! but maybe the others will make a deluxe!
@@bennshouts I like the lyrics from leeches, the sound just isn't for me. Maybe the movie will change my mind once it's out next year.
yessss and it may grow on you by then hehe
Honestly I didn’t thinks siren would fit on here since this is about hypnotherapy and life regression and she said some of those songs weren’t even for this album. I think however needle y thread was suppose to be on the album since that speaks about life regression and I agree needle and thread was so good! Sirens may be on the deluxe tho since her deluxe songs are usually a bit different. Let’s manifest together
I swear sirens is soooo good
yayy 🎉🎉❤❤
Spider web isn’t about spiders lol I thought it was about spiders but it’s about internet and technology addictions
Also battle of the *leeches* slays
Not you saying “this is the best song of the album” for like the 8 time
lmao was I wrong tho? 😛
When she says Miranda rights in faerie soirée those are the rights police officers read to people when they are arrested in America
When she says Miranda rights in faerie soirée those are the rights police officers read to people when they are arrested in America 12:05
Death is life n life is see a video of ben
🥹🥹🥹