With only a couple of weeks left until Rosalía’s fourth album arrives, her fandom was wondering if there would be a preview single for that ‘LUX’. This is released on November 7 with collaborations from Björk, Estrella Morente, Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Yves Tumor, among others.
The response was given by the artist on social networks. ‘Berghain’ premiered this Monday at 5:00 p.m., Spanish peninsular time. The song unites two of the collaborations on the album, those of Björk and Yves Tumor. We invite you to comment on it in the forums.
‘Berghain’ is a tremendous orchestral composition, in which the presence of the London Symphony Orchestra is extremely evident. Rosalía bursts into the piece singing some verses in German in an operatic register, and then launches into Spanish, proclaiming her sweetness like a “sugar cube.” In contrast, the strings and chorus attack violently, evoking the German Sturm und Drang, ‘Carmina Burana’ or the intensity of a Richard Wagner composition. Although, supposedly, the inspiration for ‘Berghain’ was the Italian opera ‘Tosca’ (1900) by Giacomo Puccini.
The line about “divine intervention” belongs to Björk, and the Icelander offers one of her distinctive melodies, very ‘Utopia’ / ‘Fossora’, also singing the entire second verse. Björk, who composes the string arrangements for her albums herself, is in her element. The American Yves Tumor barely appears at the end to close with the phrase “I’ll fuck you ’till you love me” in a distorted voice. The video clip, full of symbolism, is the work of Nicolas Méndez, director associated with CANADA, the same one behind ‘Pienso en tu mirá’ or ‘TKN’.
Of course there’s nothing techno about ‘Berghain’, and the song title seems to suggest that getting into ‘Berghain’ can be just as difficult as getting into the most famous club in the world. But Rosalía is that artist capable of sneaking classical music into the mainstream and launching a three-minute symphony. ‘Berghain’ is the bravest leap into the void in years.
On the other hand, the tracklist of ‘LUX’ is now available on streaming platforms, revealing the collaborations of each song: the regional Mexican group Yahritza y su Esencia participates in ‘La Perla’, Estrella Morente and Sílvia Pérez Cruz join forces in ‘La Rumba del Perdón’, and ‘Memoria’ will feature guest Carminho.
As confirmed by its teaser, it is the song whose score was distributed on the Internet and in Madrid, and which sounds exactly as its fans revealed.
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