Every few years there’s a new wave of artists that steamrolls the music industry. A handful of artists make it big: they garner a viral following, they sell out shows, and they make millions. Then there’s one artist out of the handful that revolutionizes music. We play their songs over and over again, chasing the adrenaline that sweeps us when they take the stage. Their music is like acoustic opioids, and we return to it time after time to make us truly feel something. Names like Freddie Mercury, Beyonce, and Kanye West come to mind. It’s about time for a new name to be immortalized in musical history: Rosalía Vila Tobella.
Rosalía impressed me with her first album Los Ángeles . The debut album presents a familiar take on Flamenco - the lone guitar transitions between melancholic plucks and anxiety inducing strums, perfectly mirroring Rosalía’s vocals. The parternship shines in songs like “Por Castigarme Tan Fuerte” and “Catalina.” Neither of these songs are of Rosalía’s writing; the majority of the tracks in her inaugural album are classics. Despite the inherent gap that comes with covering someone else’s work, Rosalía sings with astounding authenticity.
De Plata
“De Plata” is an emotional song - full of visceral notes that oscillate between frustration and glee. I didn’t even understand the lyrics the first time I listened. After reading translations, I realized the song is about her bargaining with Death. The contextualized lyrics are all the more powerful.
The emotion immediately radiates as Rosalía begins the first line with anger and disdain. Her voice meanders for what seems like ages, as if she’s afraid to finish her sentence; afraid that she won’t return from the finality that her words will create. The finality she fears is her death:
Cuando yo
When I die
Cuando yo me
Cuando yo muera
When she dies, she wants her hands tied with her lover’s braids. Her request is in defiance of Death’s inevitability. She’s mocking Death’s shackles by superimposing her binding obligation to her significant other.
Te pío' un encargo
I ask that you
Que con tus trenzas
With your braids
Que trenzas, de tu pelo negro
Braids of your black hair
Me amarres mis manos
Tie my hands together
In the second verse, as she sings about her love, Rosalía’s vocals soften. She draws her notes out again, desperately bargaining with Death for every second. But this time, the desperation isn’t fueled by her frustration with dying, but rather by the elation from the memories of her lover.
Ay si el querer
The love that I have for you
Que yo te tengo
Rosalía steals a precious few seconds to violently express her frustration. There are no words in this 12 second window — only acoustic saccades that exude raw emotion. When she runs out of time in her exchange with Death, she accepts her defeat with a final fermata — a prideful declaration of her passion for this unnamed person.
El querer, el que yo
The love I have for you
Te tengo, si de plata fuera
Were it made of silver
Otro más rico más rico que yo
There would be no one richer than me
Ay en la España aún no hubiera
In all of Spain
Rosalía dons the fiery spirit of Flamenco in her first album. Her sophomore album, “El Mal Querer", diverges from tradition. It’s a medley of genres, expertly woven together with Rosalía’s writing and production. In fact, it’s so damn good, I’ll have to cover it in another blog post ;)