In many ways, Rosalía is Spain’s first true pop star – not just in the sense of her ability to generate a charting hit, but, more importantly, in her ability to speak to the Spanish cultural zeitgeist. The former Dazed cover star’s first two albums, Los Ángeles and El Mal Querer, transported Andalusia’s traditional flamenco music into a modern pop context – the latter in particular, replete with homages to Justin Timberlake and Destiny’s Child, creating a Spanish pop moment that had never quite been seen before. Rosalía’s 2021 follow-up, Motomami, saw the Catalonian star turn inward as she reflected on her newfound mantle, but on today’s release, Lux, Rosalia levitates into something more abstract.
It’s an ambitious record, featuring compositions entirely performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, Rosalía singing in no less than 13 languages, and each track being inspired by a different Catholic saint. “There’s a whole intentional structure throughout the album, I was clear that I wanted four movements,” Rosalía told Billboard earlier this year. “I read a lot of hagiographies – the lives of the saints – and it helped me expand my understanding of sainthood. But what surprised me a lot was that there’s a main theme, which is not fearing, which you can find shared across many religions.” Elsewhere, she described Lux as a ‘human album’, rejecting the use of AI (or much digital production at all, for that matter) and effectively positioning the project as antithesis to today’s era of digital slop and disposable media. Lux certainly rewards careful listening, that’s for sure.
Critics have long accused Rosalía of cultural appropriation for basing her early career on flamenco – a culture which originated in the marginalised gitanos (Romani) communities of Andalusia, while Rosalia herself is from the wealthier region of Catalonia – and rapping in Japanese on Lux probably isn’t going to help these allegations. But, to a certain extent, all this talk of Rosalía’s 13 languages and orchestral compositions is slightly misleading – Lux still has all the hallmarks of a great pop record.
“De Madruga”’s breathless refrains, catchy double bass bassline and flamenco palmas percussion, for example, still hit home regardless of if you caught the track’s supposed references to Saint Olga of Kiev. The same can be said for “Divinize”’s timpani-assisted gravity. It’s simply doubly impressive that all of this has been situated within a wider picture that adds depth to the project. Lux is both uncompromising and thoroughly enjoyable – and this is what has always made Rosalía so special.
Dropped just weeks after it was announced (in what is starting to seem like classic 2025 pop music fashion), fans can look forward to months ahead of dissecting Lux’s layered and globetrotting references. To aid this journey, below, we speak to four of Rosalía’s key collaborators on the record.
Noah Dillon is one half of The Hellp and the photographer behind the Lux album artwork.
Noah Dillon: “I met Rosalía late last year and was definitely a fan before working with her. Rosalía and her sister Pili wanted a raw, visceral approach for the visual identity of the record and they thought I would work well for this. I think to truly understand Lux visually you need to look at the vinyl foldout as well – there are nearly 80 images that contextualize the record. It required a lot of trust. There was mutual respect that allowed me to try and achieve most of what my vision entailed.”
Latin Grammy award-winning singer Carminho hails from a long line of Portuguese fado artists, a traditional Portuguese genre that focuses on themes of longing and melancholy. She appears on penultimate track “Memória”.
Carminho: “I first ‘met’ Rosalía through her albums, as a fan, but one day, I read in a Portuguese newspaper that she used to sing one of my songs in bars when she was starting out – I was very surprised. Later, I met her and her family after a concert in Portugal, and I realised that the idea I had formed by listening to her albums truly matched the person herself. She has a remarkable ability to transform and reinterpret her profound knowledge of the traditions and language of her culture in her own unique way.
“In fact, I approached her with ‘Memória’. I came to her with a traditional Fado piece, with lyrics I had written myself for my recent album, and I invited her to sing with me on the track. Apparently, she liked the song so much that she asked to include it on her own album. I don’t know exactly why she made that decision – she has her own reasons – but I believe there is something in Fado, and perhaps the way I work with this tradition, that resonates with her. The lyrics are written as a direct conversation, asking: ’Do you remember me? Do you recognise me? After all these years, am I still the same?’ And then, by the end, you realize that the person has been speaking to her own heart – to herself. She is asking, ‘Do you remember me? Are you still the same?’
“Working with Rosalía was an incredible and truly beautiful experience. I sent her many demos that I had produced for myself in the beginning. She was so curious and humble, receiving all those ideas with openness and respect. We simply had fun together, and in the end, I feel deeply honored and proud that an artist like Rosalía chose to sing traditional Fado, and to sing it in Portuguese so beautifully.”
Daníel Bjaranason is an Icelandic composer and the conductor behind Lux.
Daníel Bjaranason: “I first met Rosalía when I arrived for the recording sessions for Lux at AIR studios in London. I was probably a casual fan before, but now I’m a huge fan! I was a bit surprised that she was doing such an ambitious project with the London Symphony Orchestra, but when I heard the demos and understood more about what she was trying to achieve I became really excited about the project.
“The highlight has been being part of the process of creating this album and seeing how Rosalía and her team approached this. Also working with producer Noah Goldstein, who I admire deeply, was a real treat. The orchestrator Kyle Gordon and everyone at AIR studios were absolutely phenomenal. It’s different from anything else I’ve ever worked on – I think Rosalía is pushing a lot of boundaries, both internally and externally. She was extremely hands on and involved in the recording process with the orchestra and she really felt every single note that was being played. She has a strong intuition and sense of what she wants but is at the same time very open to new ideas and experimentation. I think she is an absolutely wonderful artist.”
Yahritza y su Esencia (‘Yahritza and his Essence’) are a Mexican trio composed of vocalist Yahritza, lead guitarist Mando and bassist Jairo. Based in Yakima, Washington, they specialise in the urban sierreño genre, fusing traditional Mexican sounds with more modern influences. They appear on the track “La Perla”.
Yahritza: “We first met Rosalia virtually a couple months ago when she reached out to us for the collab on ‘La Perla’. At the time, my team and I were actually in Yakima recording some final tracks for the album we’re working on. As soon as I listened to the instrumental, it completely shifted me to another dimension. It just made me so emotional to think that an amazing artist like her considered a small town group to be a part of such a beautiful and magical work of art.”
Jairo: “We were so humbled and instantly connected to our roots.”
Yahritza: “Her approach overall was a blessing from God for sure! ‘La Perla’ is a very strong song. I believe you need to feel it in your heart in order to be able to transmit [that feeling] to the audience, so I’d like to think she saw that in my voice and chose us for this particular song.”
Mando: “It was an amazing experience! Aside from being an expert, a visionary and a great artist, she’s an amazing human being!”
Lux is out now.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.dazeddigital.com ’
