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Los Ángeles (2017)

Where the lyrics of Los Ángeles take you, and where it was really made.

A flamenco debut that topped several Spanish year-end lists in 2017 drew sharp objections from flamenco specialists, who called its arrangements "artificial" and "wearisome".

Key places

Recording place in Barcelona (2017)

Recording site Olympic Stadium (Barcelona) — The source lists Estudios Calamar in Barcelona as the recording place of this album. The pin sits at the city centre, not on the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Los Ángeles: debut studio album by Spanish singer Rosalía
• Spanish for 'the angels'
• Collaborative cover album with Raül Refree, credited as co-author, artist, producer, guitarist and arranger
• Released 10 February 2017 by Universal Music Group in Spain
• Concept album collecting cantes whose central theme is death
• Structure follows the debut of an orthodox flamenco singer: a selection of varied palos

Background

• Rosalía performed in tablaos for a decade before her recording debut
• Worked as guest artist and supporting act for Chicuelo, Enric Palomar, La Fura dels Baus, Miguel Poveda and Rocío Márquez
• Performed in Germany, Singapore and Panama; events included Primavera Sound 2015 and an APAP conference in New York City
• Grew up in a family with no artistic background that mostly listened to music in English
• Studied Interpretation of Flamenco Singing at ESMUC, which accepts one student of this discipline per year; selected in 2014
• Her teacher for the following eight years was José Miguel Vizcaya, known as El Chiqui de la Línea

Recording

• Recording location listed as Estudios Calamar in Barcelona
• Raül Refree credited for guitar and arrangement; Rosalía for vocals
• Mastering by Alex Psaroudakis

Cover

• Set design by Folch and Cristina Ramos; photography by Txema Yeste

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life and career

• Rosalía Vila Tobella, born 25 September 1992 in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.
• Studied musicology at the Catalonia College of Music, graduating in 2017.
• Early interest in flamenco, especially after discovering Camarón de la Isla.

Debut and El mal querer

• Debut album Los Ángeles (2017) made with Raül Refree.
• Second album El mal querer (2018) mixed flamenco with pop and urban music; won a Latin Grammy for Album of the Year.
• Ranked 315th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

International career

• Motomami (2022) embraced reggaeton; best reviewed album of 2022 on Metacritic.
• Lux (2025) fused art pop and classical elements; praised by critics.
• Thirteen number-one singles in Spain, the most for a local female artist.
• Two Grammy Awards, eleven Latin Grammy Awards, and a BRIT Award.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rockdelux called it "one of the most intense and sweeping debuts of recent times"
• Rockdelux critic Juan Monge complimented its mix of tradition and avant-garde
• AllMusic's Mariano Prunes highly commended Rosalía's vocals, writing that her voice reached almost unbearable levels of intensity and expression
• Prunes concluded the album signals the appearance of a major talent in both the flamenco and the world music scene
• Writing for MondoSonoro, Yeray S. Iborra felt that with Los Ángeles, Rosalía is posited as the contemporary cantaora who has better understood the current times
• Pitchfork called it an intimate understanding of the flamenco canon through an aesthetic closer to minimalist indie rock

Reappraisal

• Musician and investigator Pedro Lópeh criticized the album in El Confidencial, especially Refree's arrangements, calling them artificial and wearisome
• Flamenco specialist Silvia Cruz agreed, calling it a decontextualized product that does not evoke the history or roots of flamenco
• ABC's Alberto García Reyes said Rosalía does not fit much in flamenco, though he did not consider the album an aberration

Records

• Debuted at number 42 on the Spanish Albums Chart on 19 February 2017
• Rose to number 28 in its third week and held that position the following week
• Peak position of number 9 on 11 November 2018
• Stayed on the albums chart until 9 February 2020, a total of 116 weeks
• Named the best Spanish album of 2017 by ABC and Rockdelux
• Readers of the Barcelona edition of Time Out chose it as the best album of 2017
• Won the Premio Ruido on 17 January 2018 as the best national album of the year

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The lead single Catalina was released on 17 October 2016 and presented by Rosalía on Radio 3, after its B side "Que se muere, que se muere" had been shared online a few weeks earlier.
• Rosalía discovered flamenco at thirteen when her friends played Camarón de la Isla while meeting in a park after school.
• The music video for "De plata" was shot by Manson on 16 mm film.
• A cover of Enrique Morente's "Aunque es de noche" was released as a single on 2 November 2017, though it was not included in the album and had only been performed live.
• Rosalía felt that in the album the cantes become songs, so the track listing does not name the palos.
• The track "I See a Darkness" is a cover of a Bonnie "Prince" Billy track.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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