Initially, this work might appear closer to a difficult scholarly examination than a new pop record by a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Divided into 4 separate sections and sung in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic opus that delves into female mystery, religious ascent, and physical transformation, often via the perspective of different saintly figures. The end of a romance—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward here, supported by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among an extensive list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to escape dry academic posturing feels almost a miracle, and complete praise going to Rosalía. While it's not the first time project to fuse the past and modern styles, the stakes are much greater here, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that really raises her fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts apart, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there for the ride.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
This exuberant energy comes forth brightly during a stirring piano-led song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four moments. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment before a comically exaggerated string surge thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately segues into the wild single driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The charm of this album is that the listener rarely exactly understand—nor wish to know—what it is going next."
Nearly every song ends at a totally different place from how it started. One moment examines the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing in digital cacophony. Another, a cut that recalls her previous trap-infused work starts out dark and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Pop
A key achievement on the album is navigating the gap between bold experimentation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track sung primarily in English builds on a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies while it spins upward. This trick gets repeated by a different expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes patience to fully explore but never seem like a chore. Where other big releases of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, some intoxicated on holy wine, flit between discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
