You get a good sense of what Rosalía is up to across her dazzling new album from "Hentai," a hushed and aching ballad — at least that's what it starts out as — that comes about a third of the way through the 16-track "Motomami."
Singing in a high, trilling voice that conjures memories of Edith Piaf, the 29-year-old Spanish pop phenom traces a shapely ascending vocal melody over gently ringing piano chords; eventually, a swooning string arrangement flickers to life behind her, lending the song a sort of wistful classic-Hollywood flavor.
Yet the title of "Hentai" refers to a very different type of filmmaking — specifically, porn in Japan's brightly colored anime tradition — while the song's lyric describes physical pleasure more vividly than these delicate sounds have trained us to expect: "I wanna ride you like I ride my bike," she sings in Spanish before complimenting a part of her lover's anatomy by imagining it "has a diamond on the tip."
