Album Review: Rosalía, Lux

Consider the following album description: experimental classical genre, comprised of four movements, exploring themes of religious transcendence, rich with influences of diverse cultural folk traditions, including lyrics in fourteen languages and telling the stories of the lives and martyrdoms of saints.

The more classical-minded among us may be reminded of Stravinsky's controversial composition, The Rite of Spring. Others, while confused, might guess just about anyone except Spanish singer Rosalía, who once featured on Travis Scott's 'Highest in the Room' and released chart-topping electro-pop club anthem 'Despechá'.

Not unlike The Rite of Spring — said to have caused a riot at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on its opening night, due to its avant-garde nature — Rosalía's Lux has already made tsunamic waves in the industry.

While Rosalía's previous works have been more defined by hip-hop-infused pop and reggaeton genres, it's important to note her background. Her career was inspired by her love of Spanish folk and flamenco. She was classically trained in her early years in Barcelona, and she studied musicology at the prestigious Catalonia College of Music, from which she graduated with honours.

This classical influence is clear in every aspect of Lux. The entire album was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by acclaimed Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason, plus vocal performances by various accomplished choirs.

Opening track 'Sexo, Violencia y Llantas' starts and ends with intricate piano parts, leading into vast string movements and ecclesiastical choral harmonies by the Flamenco Ladies Choir. Listening to the track feels like walking into the Sistine Chapel.

Rosalía's vocals, of course, are rich with classical sophistication. 'Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti' is a contemporary aria, complete with coloratura soprano runs and trills from the woman herself.

It's not just her technical musical skills that place her beyond the realm of the pop industry. She has sung in her native languages of Spanish and Catalan as well as in English before. In Lux, she delivers performances in an astonishing 14 different languages. To say the least, this is not the work of a typical industry pop artist.

'Porcelana' includes sections in Japanese and Latin, 'De Madrugá' features an unforgettable refrain in Ukrainian, 'La Yugular' sees her take on Arabic and 'Focu Ranni' has lyrics in Sicilian.

And, of course, there's German in 'Berghain'. The lead single, with its Vivaldi-esque strings and operatic vocals, left fans and fellow musicians alike picking their jaws off the floor – all the more so when the accompanying video was released.

The lyrics in 'Berghain' — and indeed most other tracks — incorporate religious imagery and themes of transcendence, divinity, forgiveness and peace.

Each multilingual song is inspired by a female saint in history. 'Berghain' represents the mystic vision-receiver and composer of sacred music, the German St. Hildegard of Bingen. 'De Madrugá' tells the story of the vengeful Ukrainian ruler St. Olga of Kyiv, who mercilessly subjugated a neighbouring tribe as revenge for the murder of her husband and defied the norm by her baptism.

'Reliquia' and 'Focu Ranni' tell the stories of two of her namesakes: St. Rosa de Lima and St. Rosalia de Palermo, respectively. She sings with such conviction that the listening experience feels, itself, religious in nature.

Rosalía is the brilliant and charismatic star of the show, but it's worth mentioning the star-studded list of collaborators.

Björk's voice appears in 'Berghain', which also includes an outro of Yves Tumor reciting Mike Tyson's controversial quote "I'll fuck you till you love me" (poetically fading out into "love me"). Several acclaimed Spanish artists also lend their voices to various other songs. 'La Yugular' features a subtle vocal sample of Patti Smith.

Named composers include Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (one half of Daft Punk) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (singer and daughter of the iconic Jane Birkin). Pharrell Williams and Noah Goldstein (Frank Ocean, Jay-Z) feature on production, and award-winning contemporary classical composers Angélica Negrón and Caroline Shaw are among the arrangers.

It's all massively impressive, yes, but one must not lose focus on the core reason Lux is so breathtakingly special. It is not the contributors or the languages, it's the extraordinarily talented woman at the centre of it all.

What Rosalía has created is at once innovative, challenging and very special. Nothing like this record has ever been done, and that is not a statement to be taken lightly. In a world where so many artists create for the charts, Rosalía is speaking – and crying, trilling, swooping and screaming – from the heart.

This is the work of a woman born to create. Lux is the kind of album that might, and should, go down in history.

• Out now.