Vogue

Rosalía on How the Album of Her Career Came Together—and...

“For me, this time, it was the words.”

Rest of the photoshoot here:

“I’ve always started from music,” she says, “and even if music rige mi vida”—rules her life—“this time I had to come from another place. And for me, this time, it was the words.” Those words trace a love story—or, more accurately, a heartbreak—while also unfolding as a theological inquiry and something like an incantation.

Rosalía on How the Album of Her Career Came Together—and What's Next

Rosalía on 'Lux,' the Album of Her Career—and What's Next | Vogue's Spring 2026 Cover Story | Vogue

There was so much about Lux to be knocked out by. The fact that Rosalía sings in 14 languages. The sweeping, cinematic strings, played by the London Symphony Orchestra and arranged on some of the songs by Caroline Shaw, the Pulitzer-winning composer who worked on The Life of Pablo. The liturgical, atmospheric background vocals, many of them sung by the Escolania de Montserrat, one of the oldest boys' choirs in Europe, based at the Montserrat Monastery in Catalonia. The way these and other classical elements get consumed by electronics. And above all, Rosalía's stunning voice, now soaring to operatic and celestial new heights.

Before she composed any of the music on Lux, Rosalía, I'd read, spent a year writing the lyrics in near isolation. This seemed remarkable, not least because so much pop music is written melody-first. How did an album this musically complex begin with lyrics alone?

"I was like, Okay, I've always started from music, and even if music rige mi vida," Rosalía said, switching over to Spanish to convey that music rules her life. She repeated the phrase for emphasis: "La música rige mi vida. But even if that's the case, this time, I have to do it from another place. And for me, this time, it was the words."

Those words appear to tell a love story, or rather a heartbreak story. But the lyrics also amount to a theological inquiry and an incantation of sorts. Fifteen of the 18 songs were inspired by the stories of female saints and mystics; this was one reason for all the languages. To channel the medieval abbess and composer Saint Hildegard of Bingen, in "Berghain," some lyrics would need to be sung in German. Channeling Saint Olga of Kyiv, in "De Madrugá," would require Ukrainian. Teresa of Ávila would speak in Spanish ("Sauvignon Blanc"), Joan of Arc in French ("Jeanne"), Clare of Assisi in Italian ("Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti"), and so on.

During her year of writing, mostly in Los Angeles, Rosalía studied hagiographies. "So many of these saints were nuns, and I found it so amazing to learn about their lives, learn about how they would express themselves," she said. "They would have an experience of God, and they would explain it with words. Just speaking. It was another way of knowledge, no? Another way of understanding lo divino." She paused a beat. "And I feel like nowadays a lot of people reference celebrities, and celebrities reference celebrities. I prefer to reference saint

As it turned up on year-end best-album lists, Lux also provided potent grist for the content mill. How did Rosalía sing in 14 languages? (With help from Google Translate and human translators.) Since "La Perla" ("The Pearl") is also the name of a neighborhood in San Juan, is that song a takedown of her former fiancé, Rauw Alejandro? (Who knows? Rosalía is careful not to talk about her private life.) Is Lux part of the whole Christiancore aesthetic thing? (Maybe.) Is it even pop? (Depends on whom you ask.)

When I interviewed her for this article, Patti Smith—whose voice we hear at the end of "La Yugular," via a spliced-in clip from an old Horses-era interview—seemed to offer the best answer to that last question, even though I never asked it. "What is a pop star?" Smith said by phone. "Someone who is popular with the people. So do the finest work that you can, to elevate their consciousness. Whether it's in a dance song or a song that's more operatic. I have a lot of respect for what Rosalía is doing, and I love the record."

MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER

STUNNING photos. That beach shot is giving Jane Campion's The Piano phew!

Great photoshoot

Beautiful shoot

Incredible shoot

Is it just me or the bottom of the dress on the cover looks like AI

boring cover. the rest of the shoot was better

The beach shots are gorgeous, wow!

madre que guapa guapísima

beautiful, can't wait to see her live

promo is back

beauty

the cover is really boring but some of the other pics are great

I didn't know she's doing euphoria...