Rosalía Returns With Björk And Yves Tumor For Triumphant New Single ‘Berghain’

Rosalía

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Rosalía rocketed to global stardom with her 2018 album El Mal Querer, earning a Latin Grammy for Album of the Year for the neo-flamenco project that incorporated her classical music training. With her 2022 album Motomami, she sonically left her native Spain behind to dive into various genres from across the Latin music spectrum like reggaeton to bachata.

Now, Rosalía is returning to the innovative perspective on classical music that put her on the map. Her new single “Berghain,” a collaboration with fellow avant-garde artists Björk and Yves Tumor, is out now as the first taste of her forthcoming fourth studio album Lux. And though the song is named after the world’s most famous nightclub, don’t expect any booming beats here. The song is an orchestra-backed triumph seemingly out of a film soundtrack. It’s a natural choice for the singer, having cut her teeth in the Catalonia College of Music’s prestigious flamenco program that only admits one student per year.

The sole connection to Berlin on the song is in German lyrics sung by a choir and by Rosalía herself. “His fear is my fear / His anger is my anger / His love is my love / His blood is my blood,” she sings operatically in German. “The flame penetrates my brain / Like a lead teddy bear / I keep many things in my heart / That’s why my heart is so heavy.” Björk lends her vocals to the breathy bridge, declaring “The only way to save us is through divine intervention / The only way I will be saved is through divine intervention.”

Though it might appear Rosalía is paying homage to El Mal Querer and her pre-Motomami sound with “Berghain” and Lux, fans should prepare to hear something brand new; even “Berghain” itself is more grandiose in scale than the more understated tracks on her sophomore breakout.

“I’ve never done a project like this before. It’s very different from what I’ve done. I can say it has the intention of using a more distinct sound, a more orchestral palette, and a different theme,” the singer said on the Anda Ya radio show prior to the song’s release, teasing “There’s a lot of inspiration in spirituality, and I’ll leave it at that.”

Rosalía has never been one to rush out an album, and when it came to making Lux, she stuck to the same M.O. that got her to where she is now. “The driving force that leads you to continue making music, to continue creating, has to come from a place of purity,” she told Elle in August. “Motives like money, pleasure, power… I don’t feel that they are fertile. Nothing will come out of there that I’m really interested in. Those are subjects that don’t inspire me.”

Lux is out Nov. 7.