Soundcheck with Ethan

By: Ethan Barrocas

Rosalía returns after three years and defies limits. She steps into the realm of classical music, constructing a cathedral of biblical proportions. It’s dramatic and opulent while being holy and divine.

Rosalía is one of the most passionate and innovative virtuosos of our time, continually redefining the boundaries of pop music. Singing primarily in Spanish, her music is deeply influenced by the language and culture of her native country. EL MAL QUERER (2018) was critically acclaimed for its evocative storytelling and fusion of flamenco and electronic elements. The acclaim then truly burst forth with her album MOTOMAMI (2022), an experimental, Caribbean-influenced landscape pulsing with dopamine, sensuality, and dynamic intensity. Eventually, the euphoric pulse of MOTOMAMI faded, and she turned towards the heavens and the divine above, releasing her fourth studio album, LUX, on November 7th, 2025. The title “LUX” symbolizes the album’s exploration of light, both literal and metaphorical, and its journey from darkness to enlightenment, a theme that permeates the entire record.

Divided into four movements and sung in thirteen different languages, LUX is a unique multilingual journey. This classical art-pop masterpiece is inspired by Rosalía’s life, female mysticism, and themes of transformation and transcendence. The craftsmanship of this record is expansive; past experimental collaborators Noah Goldstein and Dylan Wiggins return, but Rosalía also does the unexpected by intertwining their contributions with the London Symphony Orchestra. The use of multiple languages in LUX is a bold and innovative move that adds a unique dimension to the album. It may initially feel daunting to some listeners, but it’s precisely that boldness that makes LUX so transcendent. Few albums in recent years have left such a profound emotional and artistic impact. LUX feels destined to defy the current sounds of 2025 — a canon event and a revelation of spiritual and innovative artistry.

The journey begins in our first movement with “Sexo, Violencia y Llantas.” She sets the stage with a courtly piano that subtly introduces her spiritual presence. She sings, “Who could live between the two? First love the world, and then love God.” She conveys her desire to live between the earth and God. It’s a thesis that she unravels throughout the rest of the record.

“Reliquia” draws inspiration from Saint Rose of Lima, a benevolent woman who utilized her family’s wealth to support the impoverished. The song’s central metaphor comes from the holy remains, or relics, of Saint Rose of Lima, which are dispersed around the world. Rosalía refers to herself as a relic, mentioning how she’s lost herself all over the world and to the world from her tongue to her hands. The song comes to a gripping close, representing a release; pieces of paper fly, and then ethereal Venetian snares with chopped vocals sweep you off your feet, forcing you to feel it too. 

“Divinize” starts in Catalan but seamlessly merges into English on the chorus. She compares her body to the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden, saying it’s a temple and deserves to be worshipped. Over swift and brisk instrumentation, she discovers that she must divinize the worlds she’s tethered to. 

“Porcelana” is formed through a blend of Spanish, Latin, English, and Japanese. The track is influenced by the Japanese Buddhist nun Ryōnen Gensō, known for burning her once-beautiful face in an attempt to gain acceptance at a monastery. In the song, Rosalía sings about the sacrifices women have to make to achieve spiritual freedom. She spits Japanese fire on the second verse, “I’ll throw away my beauty before you have the chance to ruin it.” Dougie F’s lyrics on the refrain highlight Gensō’s fear of sacrifice and imminent transformation, both physical and spiritual. 

Written and sung entirely in Italian and taking a year to create, “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti” ends the first movement. It’s an outstanding modern aria that merges classical music, pop, and intimacy.  A mighty tempest, as it’s both powerful and fragile, exploring how you love someone despite their imperfections. It contains many tidbits of divine imagery, most prominently the “crying diamonds,” which showcase humility and a strong, sacred relationship.

The first movement comes to a close and seamlessly transitions into the first song of the second movement, “Berghain,” featuring Björk and Yves Tumor. It shares no relation to the Berlin nightclub of the same name, but rather serves as a space where you can get lost, much like a club does. From the jump, it feels like a ritual of transformation, combining classical, spiritual, and electronic elements that convey devotion. An aggressive, striking Germanic chorus sweeps in, proclaiming a connection between Rosalía and God: “His fear is my fear, his love is my love.” Rosalía’s German verse then swerves into elegant Spanish, expressing themes of fragility and permanence. Björk’s vocals sound cinematic and otherworldly, and Yves Tumor’s outro evokes a sense of possession and prayer, illustrating how longing can transform into pain.

“La Perla” featuring Yahritza Y Su Esencia pauses in a moment of disillusion and crestfallen ferocity. A charming diss track about an absence of masculinity, many have also speculated it’s about her ex-fiancé, Rauw Alejandro. Rosalía’s lyrics discuss an “emotional terrorist” and a “local disappointment.” A pearl represents protection, sacrality, and spiritual preciousness, something that’s mentioned in the song “PROMESA,” a collaboration track that she and Rauw released in 2023. Now, with the release of “La Perla,” there’s a duality behind the pearl as it flips from something sacred to profane. This man appears to be a pearl on the outside, but on the inside, he doesn’t embody the values of a dedicated lover. Yahritza’s vocals complement Rosalía’s exquisitely, being just as ironic as the person she’s collaborating with. 

“Mundo Nuevo” reinterprets an old flamenco piece, “Quisiera Yo Renegar.” Her vocals, filled with raw emotion, sound mystical as she belts her desire to renounce this world and find truth in a new one. It’s minimalist yet strong, harnessing the emotional strain of her voice and lyrics to push the narrative forward.

“De Madrugá” is a symbolic tribute to the Ukrainian Saint Olga of Kiev, the wife of Prince Igor. Prince Igor was later killed by a neighboring tribe known as the Drevlians. They then attempted to force Olga to marry their prince to gain control of her kingdom. Olga blatantly refused and orchestrated merciless retaliation. According to legend, she buried and burned her enemies alive, and eventually set the Drevlian capital on fire. Rosalía captures Olga’s brutal nature through her lyrics, even going so far as to sing in Ukrainian, “I am not seeking revenge, revenge is seeking me.” Rather than divine intervention, as depicted in “Berghain,” this track channels intervention as a form of vengeance and dominance. 

The third movement opens with the intriguing “Dios Es Un Stalker,” in which Rosalía sings from the perspective of an all-seeing, omnipresent force. This God-like figure feels less like a protector and more like a bodyguard, watching every move. Rosalía highlights the discomfort of this inescapability, “I’m the labyrinth you can’t escape.” The instrumentation has a brisk intensity, illuminating the contrast between divinity and suffocating supervision.

Embodying the spirituality of Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya, “La Yugular” feels otherworldly and is my favorite song on LUX. Rābiʼa was an eighth-century mystic, poet, and one of the earliest practitioners of Sufism—the mystical aspect of Islam that focuses on seeking a direct, personal, and experiential knowledge of God. She loved Allah for the sake of it, not for the reward. One of her most famous acts was carrying a bucket of water and a torch, which many found unusual. However, she said she wanted to burn down heaven and extinguish the fires of hell so that worship would no longer be driven by the desire for reward or the fear of punishment. Rosalía croons this idea on this chorus, singing in Arabic, “For you, I would destroy the sky. For you, I would tear down hell. No promises, no threats.” The name of the song, La Yugular (or the jugular in English), comes from a passage in the Qur’an that says Allah is closer to us than our own jugular vein. The third verse is pure, unfiltered genius, demonstrating the interconnectedness of everything and anything from golf balls to the Titanic to the world itself. The symphony continues to rise, revealing that divinity is infinite and intimate; it can exist anywhere, from the farthest galaxy to within Rosalía’s own chest.

“Focu’ranni” is a physical-exclusive track that sonically sounds like an unreleased track off of EL MAL QUERER with its percussive clapping. However, it takes a more contemporary approach by using distorted, chopped vocal samples to emphasize Saint Rosalia’s escape from an arranged marriage and dedicating her entire life to God as a hermit. She’s even directly referenced in lyrics sung in Sicilian: “I threw myself into nothingness, to not lose my freedom,” which speaks to Saint Rosalia’s lifelong fidelity to her religion, while she spent the rest of her years in a cave.

“Sauvignon Blanc” is a delicate, expensive ballad based on Teresa of Ávila. This sixteenth-century Spanish nun left behind a life of luxury to devote herself entirely to God. Rosalía mirrors this idea by rejecting her own possessions through throwing away her Jimmy Choo shoes or burning a Rolls-Royce. Like Teresa, she shares how material things mean nothing as long as she has faith, peace, and love for God.”

Joan of Arc–one of the world’s most famous saints– is sung about on the third movement closer, and vinyl exclusive “Jeanne.” At a very young age, Joan experienced visions from multiple saints, who told her it was her duty to liberate France from the English. She was successful in many of her efforts until she was stopped short and burned at the stake for heresy. The rattling piano and strings that flow throughout accentuate how tragic her end was. The lyrics shift between Spanish and French, with Rosalía appearing to see things through Joan’s eyes through prayer and surrender to the divine, reflecting her commitment leading up to the end.

“Novia Robot” starts the fourth and final movement and is the last exclusive track on the physical copy of LUX. It’s sung in Spanish, Mandarin, and Hebrew, which is a very diverse combination. Beginning as a satirical advertisement, Rosalía introduces a robot girlfriend who can be easily manipulated to conform to society’s standards. The song then begins dismantling this false narrative by introducing two key mystics: Sun Bu’er, a Chinese Taoist master, and Miriam, a prophetess in the Hebrew Bible. She sings in Mandarin, not only expressing a lack of femininity in the world but also playing off Sun’s defiance of societal norms, saying, “A robot girlfriend is what you want today, I’m sorry, my dear, but I’m real.” Rosalía then ends the song with a Hebrew verse as a call to action, “I was born to rebel and I rebel to be born again. If pressure makes diamonds, then why aren’t we all shining?” The mixture of these three languages may seem confusing at first, but it actually points to a shared, universal struggle against oppression and fitting into the norms society places on individuals.

“La Rumba Del Perdón” can be read as an alternate ending to the story of EL MAL QUERER—a dramatic anthem about forgiveness, even when it’s hard. The first verse tells a story of betrayal; she discusses a kilo of cocaine being stolen and how they never came back: “The guitar stopped playing, and the phone stopped ringing too.” Then it moves into the chorus as she forgives him, with rhythmic chants that bolster the emotive atmosphere. More betrayal occurs in the second verse, with themes of abandonment emerging from a parent leaving their child and never returning; nevertheless, she still forgives him. On the final verse, she speaks from God’s perspective, calling out how not everyone who receives forgiveness deserves it.

“Memória” is a gorgeous requiem sung primarily in Portuguese, featuring Carminho. They sound angelic, carrying the emotions and elements of fado—Portugal’s ballad genre known for longing and nostalgia. She calls the listener and asks them to remember her and her legacy before she passes on. 

Inspired by Anandamayi Ma, an Indian mystic whose flower-filled funeral deeply moved Rosalía, “Magnolias”—the gorgeous final track of LUX—imagines Rosalía’s own funeral at its close. She asks that magnolias be thrown over her casket; these flowers symbolize purity and dignity, suggesting she wants a beautiful remembrance rather than a melancholic ceremony. Through a heavenly buildup, she achieves the dream she proposed on “Sexo, Violencia, y Llantas,” and meets God between the earth and the heavens. However, it doesn’t come without loss, but this loss is transformed into light—or “Lux” as the album title suggests. 

With LUX, Rosalía cements herself as one of music’s most daring and original artists. Through her blend of classical music, mysticism, and modern-day sounds, she creates an album for the ages—a creative flame that will never burn out. It’s an inspiring journey of love, loss, and transcendence that not only challenges listeners but also shows how far an artist can go when they choose not to follow the current trends.

Sources:
Galer, Sophia Smith. TikTok, http://www.tiktok.com/@sophiasmithgaler?_r=1&_t=ZP-91YgjnoIJ8o. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025. 

Sakellaris, Alexis. TikTok, http://www.tiktok.com/@alexis_sakellaris?_r=1&_t=ZP-91YgkQBHDAM. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025. 

A1234. TikTok, http://www.tiktok.com/@a1234music?_r=1&_t=ZP-91Ygla60IkJ. Accessed 20 Nov. 2025. 

Macaranas, Eljohn. “Rosalia’s ‘Lux’ Is THAT Good. | Review + Analysis.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Nov. 2025, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWU8xu6SkZ0. 

Santiago, Gio. “Rosalía: Lux.” Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 7 Nov. 2025, pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/rosalia-lux/. Petridis, Alexis. “Rosalía: Lux Review – a Demanding, Distinctive Clash of Classical and Chaos That Couldn’t Be by Anyone Else.”

The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Nov. 2025, http://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/nov/03/rosalia-lux-review-bjork-london-symphony-orchestra.