On the surface, this work could seem closer to a difficult academic examination than a new pop project by a musician who just had a previous single featured an international pop star. Broken into four separate movements and performed in 13 languages, this is a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, frequently via the prism of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a topic handled with raw honesty elsewhere—soars upwards on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a long roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself makes the work of other artists seem rather small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is almost miraculous, with sole credit going to the artist. While it's not the first time album to alchemize the past and modern styles, its ambitions feel much higher here, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that really raises this fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core spirit of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, the listener still want to stay right there for the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over several moments. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish force. The song immediately shifts into the wild track driven by galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The charm with this album is that the listener never exactly understand—nor want to know—what you will go next."
Almost each track ends in a completely different place from where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins out dark and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Pop
Another crucial achievement of the album is straddling the gap between radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that it has achieved her first work to break into the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song performed entirely in English swells on a chorus that seems to collect increasingly nagging hooks while it spins skyward. That feat gets repeated on a different powerful track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural impact of other breakup anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high Art amid of impending artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism for sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried gems that requires time to fully mine but never feels like a chore. Where other big pop albums of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flit between conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly creative practitioner.
