Initially, this album may look closer to a difficult scholarly quiz than the latest popular music record from a musician whose last hit featured an international K-pop star. Divided into 4 separate sections and voiced in 13 tongues, this is a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work exploring female mystery, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, often by way of the perspective of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic handled with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, carried by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. The pure audacity alone makes the work of other pop stars appear quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album manages to transcend overly academic posturing feels almost miraculous, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first project to blend the past with the present, the ambitions are much higher here, with the balancing act far more pronounced. What truly raises her fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, is an essential spirit of fun. Much like the legendary artist at her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That playful energy shines brightly during a stunning piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for several minutes. Then, all the music falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts into the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The magic of this album is that you rarely exactly know—or even want to predict—what it will go next."
Almost each track finishes in a completely different place than how it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a featherlight symphony before disintegrating into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous trap-infused style starts off dark and sinister, with prowling beats, before fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften its jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act of the album involves navigating the line between radical innovation and broad appeal. It is no coincidence that the album has become her first release to crack the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy hits. A song sung primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed by another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple tunes as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for high Art amid of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. This is an abundant well of buried treasure that takes patience to fully mine but never feels like hard work. Where other big releases of 2025 seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a lavish banquet where the guests around the table, some tipsy on sacred drink, flit from conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about useless men. It is a contemporary musical from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.
