Spanish pop star Rosalia is surpassing expectations again with her latest album, “Lux,” as the genre-bending performer sings in 13 different languages, including Hebrew.
Rosalía is widely considered one of the leading and most influential Spanish singers of her generation. She appears to have further solidified that status with the release of “Lux,” which has been met with widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike.
“Lux” — the Latin word for “light” — explores perennial themes – love, betrayal, abandonment – alongside spiritual and divine motifs. The result is a pop record with substance and bite. Critics have debated whether “Lux” should be classified as pop or classical music.
There are four songs featuring Hebrew lyrics at the end of the album.
In “Novia Robot,” Rosalia sings in well-accented Hebrew, sometimes stumbling over certain words, such as “amused,” the term for rebellion.
The Hebrew verses on “Novia Robot” are only available on Lux’s physical album release. The streaming versions are in Spanish.
The lyrics are translated into English as, “I was born to rebel/And I rebel to be born again/If pressure makes diamonds/Then why aren’t we all shining?”
Rosalia has said in interviews that the lyrics for “Novia Robot” were inspired by the biblical figure Miriam, sister to Moses, who helped lead the Israelites out of Egypt, delving into the concept of rebellion and leadership in Judaism.
The singer’s muses are certainly a world apart from anything that could be considered mainstream pop music.
“Lux” is the singer’s fourth full-length album, and it’s her independent project that took over two years to produce, with Rosalia singing in her native Spanish as well as Catalan, English, Latin, Sicilian, Ukrainian, Arabic, German and Hebrew, among other languages.
Rosalia has said she used Google Translate to write the album in each of the languages included.
The linguistic challenge inherent in “Lux” isn’t only about overcoming language barriers.
Rosalia, the mononym for Rosalia Vila Tobella, the 33-year-old Spanish singer and songwriter, has said that she used languages in “Lux” to delve into her inspirations, specifically, female saints and how they’re seen in different cultures.
The Spanish pop star, who emerged a decade ago with her first album that reimagined flamenco by blending it with pop and hip-hop, has mentioned that if she weren’t in the pop music business, she’d be studying theology.
Early reviews have been rapturous. Rolling Stone hailed “Lux” as “a truly timeless work of art,” while music magazine NME called it “arrestingly beautiful.”
Record stores reported strong sales.
“The public response has been fantastic,” said Pablo Mola, managing director of the FNAC electronics and book store on Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s central promenade.
“It’s an album that will really get people talking, and well, ‘Lux’ will be a huge success. You will see,” he told AFP.
Rosalia has said that for her, singing in different languages functions like accessing different instruments each with their own phrasing. “If I could, I would have sung in all the languages of the world,” Rosalía said during a press conference in Mexico City last week. “If I could, I would have put the whole world on this record.”
