Initially, this album may look closer to a challenging university quiz rather than the latest popular music album from an artist who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split across 4 distinct parts and voiced in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged opus investigating female mystery, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, frequently via the perspective of different saintly figures. The end of a romance—a theme treated with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward here, carried by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within an extensive list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone makes the efforts of other pop stars seem quite laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
That this album manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, with sole praise going to the artist. Although it's not her first project to fuse the past and the present, its ambitions feel far greater here, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. What really elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be a core spirit of fun. Much like the legendary Björk during her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she is breaking your heart apart, you nevertheless want to stay right there for the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines brightly on a stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a comically exaggerated string surge thuds down with cartoonish impact. The song immediately segues into the wild track driven by galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The magic of this album lies in you rarely quite understand—nor wish to know—where it will go to next."
Nearly each track concludes in a completely different place than how it began. One moment examines the fleeting nature of fame with a delicate orchestration only to collapsing in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her previous trap-infused style begins out dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, before sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
A key balancing act on the album is straddling the gap between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is little coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable hits. One track sung entirely in the English language swells on a refrain that feels to gather more and more infectious melodies as it spins upward. This trick is repeated on a different powerful track that expands and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album is pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep source of hidden gems that requires patience to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While other big releases of 2025 felt like a meager scraps, this record is a sumptuous feast where the guests at the table, some tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative visionary.
