International pop star Rosalía is again with a brand new album Friday. That includes songs in 13 languages, it is the Spanish star’s most spectacular challenge but.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
International star Rosalia is again this week with a brand new album. It is referred to as “Lux.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PORCELANA”)
ROSALIA: (Singing in non-English language).
SUMMERS: The Spanish artist is a two-time Grammy and 11-time Latin Grammy Award winner identified for her potential to fuse musical types. Right here to interrupt down “Lux” with me for our New Music Friday section is NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson. Hello.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: All proper, Stephen, I am enthusiastic about this one. And I perceive that that is Rosalia’s most bold album but, which says fairly a bit…
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
SUMMERS: …Given all the things that she’s carried out. Are you able to simply begin by serving to us contextualize this album for individuals who could not know her music?
THOMPSON: Properly, that is Rosalia’s fourth album. Her roots are form of in flamenco music, however with every file she’s put out, she retains upping the ante on her sound. She’s mixing in increasingly genres, extra languages, extra ambitions. She’s proven a exceptional knack for mixing, you already know, pop, hip-hop, Latin music in ways in which simply hold getting grander and increasingly bold.
However with “Lux,” even for Rosalia, that is a completely gigantic swing. It is catchy and genre-bending, however on an enormous stage. She’s working with the London Symphony Orchestra. It is classical music. It is opera. It is pop. It is so many issues directly. And at instances, it’s nearly breathtakingly stunning. And I have never even talked about, she sings in 13 languages on this file. I can barely muster one.
SUMMERS: Proper. Similar.
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
SUMMERS: That sounds actually, actually onerous. Does she make it work?
THOMPSON: She actually, actually, actually does. And a part of what jumps out concerning the languages and the deployment of all these languages is how seamless it sounds and the way applicable it feels to any given second. This isn’t a file that you’re – that you simply’re simply going to wish to take heed to as soon as. It simply retains revealing increasingly because it goes alongside.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BERGHAIN”)
ROSALIA: (Singing in Spanish).
THOMPSON: On the similar time, all this artwork we’re speaking about right here – this file by no means seems like a museum piece. It is vibrant and present. And on the similar time, you already know, it is not simply her classical file, both. It is obtained songs like “Divinize,” which is that this huge, catchy earworm. It is swimming throughout genres fluently, but it surely’s nonetheless a pop file in lots of, some ways.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DIVINIZE”)
ROSALIA: (Singing) By my physique, you may see the sunshine. Bruise me up, I will eat all of my pleasure.
SUMMERS: Stephen, earlier you talked about the orchestra, and the opposite factor that caught my ear was her opera singing. Inform me about her classical background.
THOMPSON: Yeah, she is the actual deal. She has studied this music. You recognize, you’re taking a tune on this file like “Mio Cristo.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MIO CRISTO”)
ROSALIA: (Singing in Italian).
THOMPSON: She has stated she needed to prepare for a yr to make that tune. She has consulted and is collaborating with so many sensible musicians and composers right here. The technical chops on show all through this file and the way in which that a number of these classical preparations are deployed and intermixed with different genres, the technical chops are unbelievable.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MIO CRISTO”)
ROSALIA: (Singing in Italian).
SUMMERS: I imply, Stephen, this album already sounds superb, however I do should say, I believe you might need one of many coolest jobs at NPR…
THOMPSON: (Laughter).
SUMMERS: …Since you get to take heed to a lot music all yr spherical since you host New Music Friday. And we’re nearly on the finish of the yr. The place do you assume that this album, “Lux,” will fall into your rating?
THOMPSON: Properly, to begin with, Juana, I all the time say about my job, it beats working within the mines…
(LAUGHTER)
THOMPSON: …You recognize? I imply, Juana, I’ve liked a ton of data this yr. It should be an enormous problem to place collectively a high 10 record, simply ‘trigger I get to take heed to a lot music. However proper now, at this exact second, as I am speaking to you, that is my album of the yr.
SUMMERS: OK.
THOMPSON: And I believe I am not going to be alone in that evaluation if my colleagues at NPR Music are any indication.
SUMMERS: That’s NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson. Thanks.
THOMPSON: Thanks, Juana.
SUMMERS: And you may hear extra of Stephen’s ideas on the brand new Rosalia album on the New Music Friday podcast from NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LA RUMBA DEL PERDON”)
ROSALIA: (Singing in Spanish).
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