Rosalía’s Reinvention of Modern Music
15 January, 2026Rosalía has been a promising figure in music ever since she released her diploma work “El mal querer” back in 2018. She was widely praised for taking traditional elements from her Spanish roots and combining them with R&B.
Ever since, Rosalía has seemingly taken a conservative approach to music-release, valuing quality work over pushing out an album each year. This reflects in the fact that since the start of her musical activity in 2026, she has released only 4 studio albums, placing herself in stark contrast with other commercial artists.
The end of 2025 brought along her most recent work “Lux”, an album that showed the public that it’s still possible for artists to write narratively complex and highly technical music without employing AI.
A Creative Visionary from The Beginning
Rosalía has never encountered a tradition that she couldn’t defy throughout her short discography. The singer, who was born in Barcelona, has spent the last seven years developing at a rate that makes her peers appear absurdly sluggish.
Her breakthrough album, El Mal Querer, which was recorded as her doctoral thesis in 2018, combined seductive R&B rhythms with Flamenco cultural traditions. The album was as innovative as work like Talismania or Herospin.
Motomami, the follow-up from 2022, was a tremendously inventive pop hit that twisted Latin American genres like reggaeton and cumbia around her whimsical, sinuous melodies and glitchy hip-hop beats.
Motomami, which features lyrics about celebrity, sex, and self-discovery, debuted at the top of Spotify’s worldwide albums chart, won album of the year at the Latin Grammys, and became Metacritic’s best-reviewed record of 2022.
The Development Process of The Newest Album
Instead of following in the footsteps of its forebears, Lux forges its own distinct route by utilising Rosalía’s classical education at the esteemed Catalonia College of Music.
It is a daring, rebellious operatic epic that sounds unlike anything else in the pop world. It was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and has several arrangements by Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw.
A German chorus chants about terror and rage while lead single Berghain riffs on Verdi’s Dies Irae. Bjork then shows up to tell everyone that “the only way to save us is through divine intervention” while the strings are played with serrated blades.
As Rosalía comes to terms with the fact that she loves too much and finds beauty in that weakness, Reliquia, another early gem, slices and splices a chamber quartet into unrecognisable electronic patterns.
The Album’s Influences and Inspirations
Composed over a span of three years, Lux considers a time when the 33-year-old experienced both personal and professional turmoil. These themes could be reminiscent of Talismania or HeroSpin, but the artist puts her own spin on these major milestones in her life.
During that period, Rosalía ended her engagement to Puerto Rican reggaetón artist Rauw Alejandro, left her management to work with Adele’s manager, Jonathan Dickins, and secured her first significant acting part in the teen drama Euphoria.
The most scathing line on the song appears to be inspired by the breakup with Alejandro. La Perla is directed at a man she refers to as an “emotional terrorist” and features a light-hearted waltz arrangement that implies she is having a great time with her long list of insults.
The singer suggested that listeners listen to Lux on headphones in a darkened room before the album’s release, referring to it as a remedy for viral videos and TikTok trends.
She told the New York Times, “The more we live in the dopamine era, the more I want the opposite.” “I know it’s a lot to ask, but that’s what I want.”. There will be substantial rewards for anyone who takes the challenge.
A technically complex modern masterpiece
Inspired by the mystical writings of French philosopher Simone Weil, a lesser artist may have been crushed by its conceptual weight,singing in four movements and fourteen languages, but she manages to evade the trap.
Lux is a very modern album despite its enormous orchestral sweep, with hip-hop phrasing and state-of-the-art production seeping into Rosalía’s beautiful, operatic vocals. The quality is right up there with HeroSpin and Talismania, despite the fact that she wasn’t a widely known name at the time of the album’s development.
Music is Just a Game for Rosalía
When interviewed, she told Nick Grimshaw on BBC 6 Music, “I just want to have fun making music, and the only way is always trying to do it differently.” Extremes are what you seek. Opposites are what you want.It is similar to a pendulum. It was about creating new terms in Motomami.
Discover one of the most unique and innovative artists of our time by turning out the lights and giving it your undivided attention, as even the artist intended.
Follow Sounds and Colours: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Mixcloud / Soundcloud / Bandcamp
Subscribe to the Sounds and Colours Newsletter for regular updates, news and competitions bringing the best of Latin American culture direct to your Inbox.