Alexis Petridis is a superb music journalist. He has enormous enthusiasm and curiosity, encyclopaedic knowledge and a really broad range of interests.
This week he reviewed the new album by Catalan superstar, Rosalia’, LUX, and gave it 5 stars. This is how he described it.
A demanding, distinctive clash of classical and chaos that couldn’t be by anyone else. The Catalan star’s monumental fourth LP features lyrics in 13 languages, references to female saints, the London Symphony Orchestra – and Björk on ‘divine intervention.’
He was preaching to the converted in my case. I’ve been listening to Rosalia ever since she emerged as the new voice of flamenco.
And I was really lucky to get a chance to enjoy her MOTOMANI show at the Roskilde Festival in 2023. She sings almost exclusively in Spanish but the enormous Arena Tent, which holds 10,000 people, was packed with young Danes who were keen to see her.
I sent Alexis’s review to my cousin, Andy, in Australia, and he became interested and went off to his local Sidney public library, and borrowed her first, very flamenco. album. That ís rather like reading a review of Bowie’s Station to Station and then borrowing Hunky Dory from the library.
The video for Berghain, the single from the new album, is very witty. I hope I can inspire you to explore Rosalia’s new album and her back catalogue. One can say a lot of things about her, but she is never boring,
Here’s the video for Berghain, the single from Rosalia’s new album. It’s completely out to lunch.
And all the better for it.
Some examples of Rosalia live…..
A complete show from Chile….