Initially, this album might appear closer to a difficult university quiz than a new popular music album from a musician who just had a last hit featured a global pop star. Split into four separate parts and sung in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic album that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, frequently by way of the prism of various female saints. The end of a romance—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, supported by the constant sound of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone renders the efforts of other pop stars look rather modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, with sole credit going to the artist. While it's not her first album to fuse the past with modern styles, the stakes feel far greater here, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that really raises her fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful energy comes forth brightly on the stirring piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, everything falls away, and there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes in with comedic impact. The song immediately segues into the wild track driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The magic of this album lies in you rarely quite know—or even wish to predict—what it is going next."
Almost every track finishes in a completely distinct point from how it began. A track examines the transient trappings of celebrity over a delicate symphony before disintegrating in digital cacophony. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, until sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth its rough edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Accessibility
A key achievement of the album is straddling the gap between radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has become her first work to crack the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. One track sung entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to gather more and more infectious melodies while it spins upward. That trick is echoed by another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving layered melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms with its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it shares the cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its own built-in excess. It is a deep well of buried gems that takes patience to completely explore but never seem like a chore. While other big releases of 2025 felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the characters at the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
