Rosalía is a musician from Catalunya, Spain whose latest album, Lux, is of particular interest from a language perspective; languages and language learning played a significant role. In this album, she takes inspiration from the lives of female saints originating from different cultures and continents. She not only delves into their lives by recounting their stories, but writes in the languages of the figures themselves. The album features songs about saints including Saint Olga of Kyiv, Saint Joan of Arc, and Saint Rosalía. The artist sings in 13 different languages including French, Arabic, and German, as well as her native Catalan and Spanish.
The title itself, Lux, has different meanings in different languages. It means ‘light’ in Latin, while luxe in Catalan can mean ‘luxury’. This shows how our language becomes a lens through which we understand and interpret a message. The visual images in the album’s cover and foldout also carry their own meanings and possible interpretations. Some have interpreted the cover image of Rosalía wrapped in white fabric as alluding to a nun or a straitjacket. The symbols intertwine with meanings conveyed by the multilingual lyrics.
Motivation for Language Learning in Lux
Rosalía was motivated to sing in different languages in Lux partly to understand other languages and cultures through language learning. She expressed this personal desire to learn and expand the possibilities of her music in an interview with the New York Times: “I love traveling, I love learning from other humans. Why would I not try to learn another language and try to sing in another language and expand the way I can be a singer or a musician or an artist? The world is so connected.”
Another motivation was to contrast the dominance of quick dopamine content. Listening to the foreign lyrics in her music, the listener is forced to concentrate; it asks more of them. It does not provide instant gratification but asks audiences to be present, as they come up against unfamiliar words. Rosalía recommends listening to the whole album in one go, in darkness. That way we can focus on what we hear.
How did she do this?
- Intuition
- Language learning
- Experimenting with Google Translate
- Seeking input from translators
- Collaborating with other artists for linguistic input
- Working with teachers for guidance on pronunciation
- Collaborating with artists specialising in traditional music
Rosalía composed lyrics and experimented with translating her words into other languages using Google Translate and by consulting with translators. In this way, she tested possibilities, experimenting with rhymes and checking how word choices could be understood in other languages. She spoke to native-speaking artists for input, such as Charlotte Gainsbourg and Justice. Rosalía spent a year just on the lyrics. She described a constant process of writing, consulting, re-writing and re-recording, in what she described to be like a puzzle. She also collaborated with artists who make traditional music rooted in specific cultures, such as fado from Portugal. Having studied flamenco from the age of 13, there are also influences from this art form, such as handclapping. She described to Popcast how pure flamenco has been a reference from which she could diverge and experiment. She also worked with the London Symphony Orchestra on the song “Berghain” with lyrics in German, Spanish, and English.
Rosalía used language intentionally, choosing the language according to the story she was referencing. Some examples of the songs, the stories they recount, and the languages used are the following:
- In “Jeanne” Rosalía writes about St. Joan of Arc, with verses, and the song’s title itself, in French
- Rosalía wrote in Sicilian for the song, “Focu ‘ranni”, inspired by St. Rosalia of Palermo
- In “Porcelana” she sings a part in Japanese, inspired by Japanese saint Ryōnen Gensō
The Importance of Language
Inspired by her reading, Rosalía has described the album as being like a vessel, a place that can gather. She gathers and shares stories through multilingual lyrics. Language allows us to be open to the world, to connect and learn from others. Guided by “love and curiosity”, words are central to the album. They can hopefully inspire the presence of listeners and resonate, whether the meaning of the words is familiar or not.
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26 March 2026 14:28