Luckily in pop there are still artists like Rosalía
He defines it as «an emotional journey that crosses the feminine mystique, between transformation and transcendence» and that «it oscillates between the intimacy and grandeur of an opera». And after all he achieved it not only with colleagues like Bjork And Yves Tumornot exactly artists who love to please the public and professionals, but also with the London Symphonic Orchestra and the children’s choir Escolania de Montserratone of the oldest children’s choirs in Europe based in the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat near Barcelona. In short, Rosalía’s intentions are clear: with “Lux”, his new album, out on November 7the singer-songwriter who in 2018 with “El mar querer” won over critics and the public by recovering flamenco and mixing it with r&b and electronics, creating something that had never been heard in the mainstream until then, will further raise his very personal bar. Confirming herself as one of the most experimental, courageous and ambitious artists of high-class pop.
The announcement of “Lux”
The 33-year-old Catalan musician revealed all the details of “Lux” last night with a spectacular countdown on Madrid’s Gran Víaturning off all the public lights in the area and plunging that part of the city into darkness, before turning everything back on showing the album cover: and there was light. The album arrives three years after the previous “Motomami”, with which he won the Grammy for “Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album” and also four Latin Grammys. That record was a cultural operation with which Rosalía recovered and paid homage to masterpieces of Latin music such as “La niña de fuego” by Manolo Caracol, “Delirio de grandeza” by the Cuban Justo Betancourt and “The sun of latin music” by Eddie Palmieri: a «love letter to the music I love», he said of that work, which made history by becoming the first album by a Spanish artist to debut at first place in the global album chart on Spotify (as well as being the Latin album with the best debut on the US Billboard chart in 2022).
The first previews
A year ago, speaking about what was still the embryonic version of “Lux”, Rosalía said: «It was a particular process. I’ve changed a lot, but at the same time I’m still trying to understand the same things. It’s like I still have the same questions and the same desire to answer them. I still have the same love for the past and the same curiosity for the future». It’s no coincidence that musically speaking he still flirts with Björk, after the “Oral” they recorded together in 2023 in the hope – all true – of raising awareness about the cruelty and negative consequences of open-air salmon farming. In addition to the manufacturer, El Guinchoreal name Pablo Díaz-Reixa, whom Björk wanted at her side already in 2011 for “Biophilia”, share that“glocal” approach to music: just as the voice of “Hyperballad” reworked Icelandic culture and nature in a global and futuristic key, creating a hybrid and personal musical language between electronic, classical, folk and avant-garde, so Rosalía brought the roots of Catalan music into the global world of pop and urban.
Because it won’t disappoint
By the way: among the guests of “Lux” there will also be the Portuguese singer-songwriter and composer Carminho (considered one of the most talented and innovative fado singers of her generation), the Spanish Estrella Dying (daughter of the well-known flamenco singer Enrique Morente, known mainly for playing “Volver” by Carlos Gardel in the film “Volver – Tornare” by Pedro Almodóvar: in the film, however, the song is sung in playback by Penelope Cruz) and Silvia Pérez Cruz (in Italy we saw her duet with Tosca at the 2020 Sanremo Festival on the notes of “Piazza Grande” by Lucio Dalla: the two won the cover evening) and the Yahritzaan American trio from the Yakima Valley, Washington state, specializing in regional Mexican music. She who in recent years has shown herself capable of taking tradition by the hand and leading it towards dizzying and contemporary panoramas, will not disappoint this time too.
