The first single to be released from Rosalía’s new album, Lux, had people anticipating what her new sound might be. “Berghain” symbolizes a great shift from the sounds found on her last album, Motomami. Instead of the anticipated reggaeton and electronic sounds we have come to associate Rosalía with, listeners were hit with the dramatic sounds of a violin, which makes way for a full-blown orchestral performance, courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra. Rosalía displays her versatile musical abilities, marking her presence in the song by singing in German in operatic style. The track then unfolds into a more somber sound, with Rosalía singing about her fragility but also her willingness to change and grow. The song features contributions from electronic and trip-hop legend Björk, as well as the experimental and eclectic Yves Tumor. The choice to have “Berghain” as the first taste of what is to come signals just that: the artistic direction she is taking is not what we expect from her. Rosalía herself said that “Motomami is minimalist, Lux is maximalist”.

The album deals with themes of isolation, spirituality, and humaneness. Embracing humanity is at the core of this album, with Rosalía alluding to the artistic choices she made, ditching looping effects for the charm of acoustic and human-operated instruments. Not only that, but the lyrics also reveal a rather vulnerable side of Rosalía. She talks about love, death, and existence, amongst other topics. In a world dominated by AI-generated art, the decision to create such an album and to embrace the humanness of it is, in her words, an act of resistance.

There is also an overarching concept throughout the record. She lives vicariously through different saints, who manifest at various points on this record every time she sings in a different language. Yes, that is right, different languages – 14 to be exact. She sings in her native Spanish, but also in Arabic, Italian, and Ukrainian, to name a few. She was inspired by her years studying saints like Bhikkhunī and Hildegard of Bingen, and her decision to include them in the album was due to the overlap between her experiences and the path to sainthood for these women.

Some of the tracks that stand out to me, aside from “Berghain”, include the waltzy “La Perla”, which seems like a direct attack at the person who has broken her heart (one could only speculate who it might be). “De Madrugá”’s sound gives us a taste of what we come to associate with Rosalía, but reimagined in the new style she adopts on this album. “La Rumba Del Perdón” tells a story of drama and forgiveness, with the backdrop of a sick flamenco-like beat. The vocal performance on “Mundo Nuevo” left me in awe the first time listening to it. The album’s closer, “Magnolias”, deals with death, leaving the listener with the haunting thought of its inevitability.

There is no doubt that Rosalía has put a lot of soul and effort into this project. While I could keep boasting about that, I also think that talking about the reception of this album is important, too. I have noticed people on social media, mostly TikTok, being shocked that Rosalía has had classical training in music at the Catalonia College of Music. Yes, Lux as a project is indeed impressive, but so are her past works. Clearly, there is something about the sound of Lux that made people wonder how she was able to pull off such a project.

I know, you are probably here to listen to what I have to say about the new album, not to read an academic paper, but I think it is worth looking at this through the lens of high and low cultures. The former refers to cultural productions associated with the elite, while the latter refers to culture that appeals to the masses. I think it is interesting that people make the connection between the use of opera and an orchestra and proper training in music. I say this because the previous works Rosalía produced are of the same technicality and creativity, yet it is this most recent album that led people to make the connection between Rosalía’s new sound and her background in musicology. This further illustrates how some forms of cultural production, in this case music, are exclusive avenues that could only be accessed if you fit the right criteria – that of an educated and upper-class association. Not only that, but people’s perception of her as someone who works on more experimental projects in a domain of high culture seems initially out of place. To me, this means that we have this perception that some people are barred from entering high cultural domains, and this trail of thinking reinforces class boundaries and leaves no room to break from them.

All in all, Lux marks a new chapter in Rosalía’s career as an artist. And, to her credit, she did an amazing job. This record takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, and gets you to face topics that could make someone uncomfortable. Although she uses the images of saints and divine spirit, what I think is at the core of this album is how we deal with our humanity and how we make sense of ourselves in this world.