On the surface, this album may look more like an arduous academic examination rather than a new pop album by an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop star. Divided across 4 different sections and performed in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album that delves into feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and corporal change, often by way of the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—soars upwards on this record, carried by the constant presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer daring alone renders the efforts of other artists look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to avoid dry academic chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, with full praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to blend historical sounds with modern styles, its ambitions are much greater here, with the balancing act far more dramatic. The element that really raises her fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, rich compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener into its tornado. When she's breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This playful energy comes forth clearly during a stirring Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four moments. Then, all the music falls silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo thuds in with comedic impact. The track immediately segues into the wild single featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album is that you never quite know—nor want to predict—where you will go to next."
Almost each track finishes at a completely different place than where it began. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous rhythmic work begins out dark and brooding, featuring menacing beats, until fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth its jagged edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act of the album involves navigating the line of radical innovation and mainstream appeal. This is little surprise that it has achieved her first release to crack the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English swells on a chorus that seems to gather more and more infectious hooks while it spirals skyward. That feat gets repeated by another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for high Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its inherent excess. It is a deep well of buried treasure that takes time to completely mine but doesn't feels like a chore. Where other big pop albums of 2025 seemed like feasting on scraps, this record is a lavish banquet at which the characters around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between discussions about historical figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly restlessly creative visionary.
