Rosalía - LUX

When Rosalía dropped ‘Berghain’, the lead single from her fourth album, ‘LUX’, it was evident that this new record wasn’t going to be a continuation of the minimalist reggaeton of ‘Motomami’ (2022) or the flamenco pop of ‘El Mal Querer’ (2018). Sung in English, Spanish and German, and featuring mantric chants from Yves Tumor and Björk, ‘Berghain’ felt less like a new song and more like a reset of the boundaries between pop, classical, and club music.

And the rest of ‘LUX’ duly follows suit. Divided into four “movements” - with each track inspired by a different saint - and sung in 13 languages, it’s fiercely ambitious; and the results are nothing short of magnificent. Throughout, she takes cues from classical music (with a little help from the London Symphony Orchestra), all while drawing on pop hooks and melodies. Take ‘Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti’, for example, which climaxes in a ferocious clashing of instruments; or the graceful waltz of ‘La Perla’, which beautifully opposes the litany of digs she lets loose in its lyrics.

Still, though, there is more at play here. True to its name, ‘Berghain’ borrows beats from club music and recreates them with strings, while ‘Porcelana’ and ‘La Rumba del Perdón’ draw on flamenco. Elsewhere, ‘Memória’ is the star’s take on fado. Lyrically, too, the album pulls no punches. On its echoing opener ‘Sexo, Violencia y Llantas’, Rosalía faces her own mortality; on closing track ‘Magnolias’, she fantasises about her funeral. In between, she addresses everything from toxic relationships (‘La Perla’) to identity (‘Reliquia’) and the renouncement of her earthly possessions (‘Sauvignon Blanc’). All, of course, accompanied by orchestral compositions worthy of the classical music hall of fame. ‘LUX’ may have only just come out, but, years down the line, it might be no exaggeration to describe it as a turning point in pop music.