Rosalía’s latest project Lux is so much more than a studio album. It’s a fully immersive sonic opera that proves the Spanish singer and songwriter exists in a whole other stratosphere when it comes to her musicianship.
The star of course is one of just a handful of artists today who manage to command the pop culture conversation while avoiding recording her songs in English. While Rosalía’s songwriting is clearly poetic, her power truly lies in her voice and her sonic ear. These elements together are what build the immersive and emotionally overwhelming world of Lux. While her previous project, Motomami was a sexy romp and (controversial) exploration of the singer’s interpretation of latin pop and reggaeton, Lux retreats back to her traditional flamenco roots. Self-reflection, heartbreak, femininity and faith, are all found within the world of Lux and its sublime sequencing provides the ultimate theatrical listening experience.
Ahead, Harper’s Bazaar breaks down our four biggest takeaways from Rosalia’s Lux.
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Lux is a truly global-centric production.
Rosalía is an artist who doesn’t believe in limitations and that pertains to her artistic use of language, too. Lux features the star singing in a staggering 13 different languages including Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Portuguese, Sicilian, and Ukrainian in addition to her native Catalan and Spanish. One needs to truly surrender to the music to soak up the intention behind every song, especially if it isn’t in the listener’s native dialect. It’s clear Rosalia doesn’t just want her fans to absorb and analyze the songs from solely a lyrical standpoint—she also just wants listeners to truly feel.
“It’s a lot of trying to understand how other languages work,” Rosalía shared in an interview with The New York Times about her decision to embrace other languages on the project. “It’s a lot of intuition and trying to be like, I’m going to just write and let’s see how these will sound in another language.” She also worked with London Symphony Orchestra who provided background orchestration throughout multiple songs on the project, resulting in its ultra-dramatic production. — B.B.
Rosalía is letting us into her personal life.
Rosalía has always been a storyteller. For her second studio album, El mal querer, she used a 13th-century romance novel as the framework for her flamenco-infused R&B. With her follow-up, Motomami, she built a genre-bending, feminist landscape where the scenes jumped from New York City jewelry shops to the shores of the Caribbean. But up until this point, the Spanish singer has always been notably guarded when it comes to the details of her personal life. Instead of confessional songwriting à la Taylor Swift, Rosalía prefers to use references and symbols to convey her emotions. At least, that was the case until the release of Lux. Here, she gets more personal than ever. In the wake of her split from Rauw Alejandro—who she was engaged to until 2023—Rosalía opens up about the hurt that she feels. She explores heartbreak and healing on “Memória,” she eviscerates men who are “emotional terrorists” and “national heartbreakers” on “La Perla.” On Lux, it might seem like the underlying messages are harder than ever to parse, thanks to the mixture of languages, cultural references, and allusions to religions and saints. But if you look closely, you’ll see Rosalía baring her soul. — J.C.
The handful of collaborative features are intentional.
Rosalía is maybe one of the most sought-out artists when it comes to collaborations. Since her debut in 2017, she’s gone on to work with fellow artists like Bad Bunny, J Balvin, The Weeknd, Lisa, Tokischa, and more. On Lux however, the singer didn’t curate her features based on chart appeal or who’s trending. Instead, she brought on artists who have inspired her own creative identity over the years like Björk, Estrella Morente, Sílvia Pérez Cruz, and Carminho. Musician and producer Yves Tumor, who appears on the album’s lead single “Berghain” and Mexican-American trio Yahritza y su Esencia are the most of-the-moment artists featured on the project. — B.B.
This music isn’t made for social media trends or mixes.
One of Rosalía’s greatest strengths is that she’s unafraid to change or adapt to evolving trends and technologies. When she released her third studio album, Motomami, she filmed a small concert tailored specifically for TikTok and YouTube—bringing a live experience to fans right from the comfort of their homes. Meanwhile, much of her music is composed of dopamine thrills that can easily adapt to social media or cut-able clips. But while she’s always stayed ahead of the game, she’s also unafraid to challenge her listeners, and on Lux, she resists the urge to make viral-ready hits. Her projects have always been cohesive, but Lux is her most fluid. Never before have her songs blended together so beautifully, from the drums of “Sexo, Violencia y Llantas” going straight into the thumping violin of “Reliquia” to the operatic drama of “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti” segueing into the orchestral swell of “Berghain.” Each second builds upon the last in the most rewarding ways, encouraging listeners to pause and take it all in. Here, Rosalía practically requires us to listen to the project front-to-back—and it’s totally worth it. — J.C.
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