Hades (stylized in all caps) is the upcoming fourth studio album by American singer Melanie Martinez. It is set to be released on March 27, 2026 through Atlantic Records, serving as a double album. Its main theme will be both dystopian and utopian, and an upcoming film for the album is planned. After her social media and website were cleared, the lead single "Possession" was released on January 28. In February, she revealed the album's title, release date and pre-order. The unreleased song "Garbage" was also revealed on the same day. "Disney Princess" was released as the second single on February 25.
On the Q&A opened in Martinez's Instagram Stories on October 10, 2025, she revealed that her upcoming album would be released as a double album in 2026.[1][2] She also shared that the album's recording has been finished,[3] and that she is planning to film an upcoming movie related to the album,[4][5] featuring a new character other than Cry Baby.[6] On January 23, 2026, Martinez cleared her social medias as well as her official website, speculating that her new album is coming.[7]
Martinez released the lead single of the album, "Possession", on January 28.[8][9][10] On February 1, she revealed the album's title and release date,[11] with pre-order available on February 4.[12] The same day, the singer revealed an unreleased track "Garbage".[13] "Disney Princess" was released as the second single from the album, on February 25.[14]
Theme and packaging
"Each song on this record explores a different trap set by the kind of evil, patriarchal energy that is Hades. It isn't about predicting a dystopian future. It's about recognizing destructive patterns that already exist. The same dynamics repeating in different places. Control disguised as protection. Cruelty framed as logic. Exploitation sold as opportunity. Once you start noticing those threads, it becomes hard to ignore them."[13][15]
According to Martinez, the theme of Hades is dystopian and utopian.[16] She further explained that each song examines different "traps" created by an "evil, patriarchal energy". Martinez emphasized that the album is less about imagining a distant dystopian future than about recognizing destructive power structures that already exist, where "control" is masked as "protection" and "exploitation" is framed as "opportunity".[17] Danielle Holian of Atwood magazine believed that the album "appears poised to explore the underworld that follows. Not rebirth, but reckoning. Not fantasy, but the machinery beneath it."[18]Billboard's Lars Brandle also characterized Hades as "appropriately hot theme for this alt-pop phenom".[17]
Korean artist, Cho Giseok, designed the photoshoots for Hades era.[13] The 18-track standard edition package includes a cassette,[19]CD[20] and LP.[21] Martinez also shared a box set which contains a signed artcard, CD and hoodie, as well as 32-page storybook which introduces "Hades story to life, following the journey of Circle".[22]
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