MOTOMAMI - Rosalia: Review
Rosalia
is a Spanish singer and pop star who has emerged in recent years for her futuristic style and take on genres like Spanish folk and reggaeton. Since her massively acclaimed 2018 album El Mal Querer her star had grown drastically alongside her musical scope. She served up high profile collaborations with Bad Bunny, James Blake, Travis Scott and Arca before releasing a string of acclaimed singles in the lead up to this LP, one of the most anticipated of 2022 by both fans and critics.
Review By Lav:
So, this is a big one. I fell in love with Rosalia a few years ago and following her career has been an exciting and versatile journey ever since. Now it is finally time for her to show up and drop a third album while all eyes are on her. I won't linger on this too long, she absolutely killed it. MOTOMAMI is an exciting, experimental and uncompromising vision of Rosalia as both a person and an artist. It's a spectacular combination of her immense vocal talent paired with genre and instrumental ambition that I can't get enough of.
When I say this is a portrait of Rosalia I really feel that way. It's a loose concept album where she does quite a bit of self-reflecting. But she clearly contains multitudes and this record is no different, serving up straightforward bangers lathered in her overwhelming charm in between experimental ballads where she examines her own place in the music world. Versatility really is the key word here and one I couldn't help but come back to repeatedly as I listened through the album after reading an interview where she explained the split between the Moto side of the record and the Mami side. What I was anticipating was a record like Slowthai's Tyron which was split into two distinct halves. Forget splitting by halves, MOTOMAMI changes these aesthetics constantly even within the same songs. As a result the album never settles down from its first moments to its stark finale, and what a ride it is.
The record had 4 singles and they all come early on in the tracklist. I liked them all to some degree but let's start with the real highlights. Saoko is a great opener to the album that delivers a hard-hitting and unpredictable composition that I fell in love with as soon as I first heard it. It's the exact kind of futuristic banger that I was hoping to hear on this record and Rosalia absolutely kills it. Conversely there's Hentai which came out just earlier this week. It's an incredible song that totally transcends its evocative title to focus on finding intimacy and sensuality in the little things. It's a stark and wonderful ballad that manages to erupt at just the right time in the final minute with gunshot rattling percussion that hits like a train.
La Fama was the lead single which came out last year and while it didn't totally blow me away at first it grows on me seemingly every single time I hear it. I understand how some people think The Weeknd sounds out of place on the track, particularly on the very stark bridge where Rosalia completely shows him up vocally. But he helps the hook absolutely soar and when combined with Rosalia's background singing it all sounds beautiful. Finally there's Chicken Teriyaki which people really didn't seem to enjoy, primarily because of the dumb lyrics. I have to say I think the track is an absolute banger and I honestly just have to put my writer brain aside sometimes and admit when something goes hard. Despite the silly lyrics I think it's irresistible.
The highlights certainly don't stop there. Candy has been one of the most talked about songs since the record came out because it interpolates one of my favorite songs of all time, Archangel by Burial. The way Rosalia delivers it is reminiscent of the subtle fragility of the original but with a much more prominent vocal presence. As hesitant as I was at first I've grown to like it and my only issue with the song is part of a bigger issue with the tracklist that I'll talk about later. The production on Bulerias sucks me in immediately and that's before we even get into the crazy Bjork sounding passages of absolutely harrowing singing backed by an incessant marching clap. It has an incredibly bold and unforgettable sound that I really appreciate.
I will go ahead and spoil the fact that pretty much every song on the record that you can classify as a "banger" is great. This includes shorter songs like Bizcochito and the title track and also more fleshed out cuts like CUte. Cute features something that pops up a lot on the record and is generally one of the quickest ways to my heart, crazy percussion. The intimate singing pairs perfectly with the rattling percussion that absolutely dominates the background as well as the methodical bass hits laced underneath. Like many songs on the record it defies your expectations by randomly shifting into a ballad in the middle, only to come back stronger than ever for a great finish.
I wasn't crazy about La Combi Versace at first but I think I'm chalking that up to the language difference because as soon as I realized how badass the song was it became completely irresistible. Rosalia and featured artist Tokischa are just flexing the fuck out of all the luxury designers they're wearing and how good they look doing it. The song is much more anthemic and empowering than I first realized and now I'm kind of obsessed with it.
Como Un G is definitely the albums emotional centerpiece and it's emerged as one of my favorite tracks with how raw Rosalia allows her vocal to be presented and the continued swelling crescendos across the songs most emotional moments. It's one of the only points on the record where I think the language barrier is really holding back important details. There are little flashes of lyrics that I find fascinating but there's also clearly something that they're meant to add up to that I'm not able to get with word for word translations of the lyrics. I also can't find much information in interviews about what the song is specifically saying, only the emotion it seeks to convey which it succeeds wildly at doing. Speaking of succeeding wildly, the closing track Sakura is absolutely excellent. Firstly it succeeds at deploying a metaphor of Japanese cherry blossoms way better than Kacey Musgraves tried to do last year. More importantly it features sampled crowd noise and is set up to sound like Rosalia is performing to an increasingly disconnected audience. The song itself is a meditation on how fleeting her status as a star in the world of music really is which serves as some remarkable self-reflection and vulnerability. Her amazing refrains soaring over gentle piano to the sound of a distant crowd cheering her out is a really fitting and wonderful way to end the record off.
Even the tracks on this record that I'm not crazy about do have some enjoyable elements. I'm not crazy about how Diablo starts but the insane instrumental breakdown really grabs me and once James Blake shows up out of nowhere I'm sold. I still don't think all of the vocal manipulation is really all that helpful for the song but it also doesn't ruin it. G3 N15 is another mostly ballad type song deploying these really subtle vocal manipulations and even an organ in its instrumental arrangement. My main issue with the song is that none of the refrains really grab me the same way other songs on the record do but even then it has passionate high points that are just irresistible. It also ends with a sample of Rosalia's own grandma on the phone and her meditations on newfound fame are a good synthesis of themes the record explores throughout.
Delirio De Grandeza is probably the only song on the record I just don't enjoy. As I understand it this is a cover of an old Cuban song that seems to be pretty well respected. So for some reason Rosalia decides to throw a Soulja Boy sample over it. I guess it's not necessarily distasteful which is good but I can't say it makes much sense within the song. I do have a complaint about the album in general terms with one thing I think holds it back from being even better. Rosalia clearly made it a point to subvert expectations as often as possible on the record which does set up some really great moments but it makes it difficult for the tracklist to build up momentum. I think with just a little tweaking you could lean more into the album's loose concept and tell a really potent story throughout the tracklist that could supplement the already great music with a great emotional journey as you listen through it.
So let's take stock of what we got. The music on this record is excellent, creative, unpredictable and futuristic. The compositions make unpredictable shifts and turns throughout which makes the record exciting but occasionally dulls its ability to build up momentum. The recurring themes and loose concepts of the album make it feel like a truly personal and unique display of Rosalia as a person and an artist meaning the record achieves both its sonic and thematic ambitions. On a less analytical level I find myself more enamored with Rosalia than ever before. She really does convey multitudes on this record showing both her most confident and intoxicating side as well as some genuine vulnerability. It's impressive in so many different ways and feels like Rosalia living up to her moment in absolutely every way. This may be her best album yet and among the best in all of 2022. 8.5/10
I really enjoy this cover. Not only because it's my personal style of photography but because it's dynamic and fills the frame without containing any unnecessary details. The styling is clean and the text is different than anything else being put out right now. I would say the one downside is that it's a little hard to read and might be confusing but the text of Rosalia's name is impactful and while small adds quite a bit to the piece. Overall I think this is an awesome cover. 9/10
If you want more reviews check out my coverage of Arca's kick series here
