Album of the Week: Rosala LUX

Staff Review

Spanish pop visionary Rosala, who stunned critics with 2018s El Mal Querer and conquered the globe with the art-pop brilliance of 2022s MOTOMAMI, returns this week with her fourth studio album, LUX.

Following last years collaboration ORAL with fellow experimentalist Bjrk, LUX marks a striking departure from the exuberant, kinetic pop energy its immediate predecessor. Rather than replicate MOTOMAMIs wild freeness, Rosala has, over three years, sculpted a deeply intricate and eclectic work of Latin pop infused with classical, experimental, and electronic flourishes. It is the record that cements her status as one of contemporary pops most fearless and singular auteurs, a throne long occupied by her collaborator Bjrk, who appears here alongside Yves Tumor on the albums lead single Berghain.

Like her contemporary FKA twigs, Rosala is equally capable of crafting heart-wrenching, cinematic balladry and visionary, forward-thinking electronic pop. At times, these contrasting modes fuse brilliantly. The glitching outro of Reliquia (Relic), the restless pulse of Divinize, and the hip-hop-inflected Porcelana (Porcelain) featuring Ukrainian rapper M1SHKA all stand out in the albums first movement, which concludes with the operatic splendour of Mio Christo Piange Diamanti (My Christ Weeps Diamonds).

The aforementioned Berghain must be one of this years most beguiling lead singles a furious, shape-shifting piece that opens LUXs second movement with cinematic intensity. Rising and falling strings evoke the drama of a Peter Greenaway film, while Rosala, Bjrk, and Yves Tumor trade vocals like actors in a stage play exploring spirituality, sensuality, and existential tension. Its a whirlwind of emotion that is impulsive, panic-like, and enthralling. In contrast, La Perla follows with tender sweetness, its narrative of selfish love softened by lullaby-esque tones and its Disney-like sound design before the funky, strutting optimism of De Madruga (At Dawn) restores a sense of rhythmic excitement.

The humorously titled Dios Es Un Stalker (God Is a Stalker) heralds the albums third movement, and is perhaps LUXs most immediately infectious moment, a slick, vibrant, and playful track. Its soon counterbalanced by the darkly romantic La Yugular and the theatrical grandeur of Sauvignon Blanc. LUXs final stretch ventures deeper into classical and avant-garde territory with Memoria, before closing out with the breathtaking Magnolias, an elegiac, redemptive piece of such spiritual clarity and devotion it feels destined for the house of God.

With LUX, Rosala has created one of the years most distinctive, challenging, and transcendent pop albums. It may eschew the immediate rush of MOTOMAMI, but it offers something greater in return, a work of immense emotional and spiritual depth, proof once more that Rosala is operating in a realm entirely her own.

Rosala LUX is OUT NOW on Vinyl & CD