By Mick Dillon / The Jambar
Rosalía Vila Tobella, known professionally as Rosalía, released her fourth studio album Nov. 7. “LUX” is a 15-song large-scale symphonic composition that packs the entire world’s sounds into a 49-minute runtime.
Genre-bending has always been an aspect of Rosalía’s style, and “LUX” carries on this tradition, delivering listeners a sonic experience akin to the likes of Luciano Pavarotti and Richard Wagner.
“LUX” introduces opera to Rosalía’s ever-changing sound. From electronic dance to international rhythms, she has always opened doors for pop artists to explore and combine genres.
From start to finish, the one constant theme is empowerment. Even though most listeners will not be able to understand all 13 languages used on the album, everyone will be able to feel the unifying orchestral energy throughout the project.
Although not fluent in all 13 languages, Rosalía gave touching tributes to several cultures on the album. In an interview with NPR, Rosalía discussed her experience recording the album.
“I find it so interesting how much the air [is] important. At the end of the day, the breath, that’s where it all starts. That’s why in the beginning of the album, after the piano intro, the beginning is a breath. That’s the first human sound on the album,” Rosalía said. “That was my love letter to Arabic.”
The recording process of “LUX” took over two years, with Rosalía making stops in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain and France to study languages and record with various symphony orchestras.\
“If I could have fit the entire world in a room … I would have done it if I could,” Rosalía said in the same interview.
With each track inspired by various female saints, and Rosalía spending real time entrenched in the cultures she studied, “LUX” naturally has a religious feel.
“Mysticism is the inspiration … What is my faith and how can I explain this and put it into words, which is so hard?” Rosalía said.
While most can agree this album sounds like a masterpiece, there are many moving parts that contribute to the grandiose, dramatic composition.
In an interview with Billboard, Rosalía said the album consisted of four parts she wanted listeners to move through and explore.
“There’s a whole intentional structure throughout the album,” Rosalía said. “I was clear that I wanted four movements. I wanted one where it would be more a departure from purity. The second movement, I wanted it to feel more like being in gravity being friends with the world. The third would be more about grace and hopefully being friends with God. And at the end, the farewell, the return.”
Overall, “LUX” feels more like a historical, spiritual commentary than it does a modern record. Listeners can quickly tell Rosalía is delivering stories passed down from different eras and cultures — not necessarily her personal, lived tales.
“I love explaining stories. I like to be the narrator,” Rosalía said in the same interview. “Music is just a medium to explain stories, to put ideas on the table. So that’s what this project is for me. I’m just a channel to explain stories.”
In terms of her musical future, Rosalía said the journey never ends, and she is always asking herself how she can be “freer.”