Track Review: ROSALÍA Drops Daring New Track, "Dolerme"

Fresh off a Grammy win (Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album) earlier this year for her El Mal Querer album, one of the best records of the last decade, ROSALÍA has returned with one of her most interesting and daring tracks yet, "Dolerme." The song, the title of which translates to "hurt me," features a somber acoustic guitar for the first half before ROSALÍA exchanges the guitar for a breezy Auto-Tuned drawl. The tension between the analog and electronic instrumental elements are indicative of the on-again-off-again relationship she sings of. This is the same lady who sampled Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" on a flamenco ballad. ROSALÍA's defining artistic characteristic is how daring she is in terms of blending seemingly disparate sounds and genres.

At just under two and a half minutes, "Dolerme" is short, but she accomplishes more in that time than most artists do in five minute long tracks. Lyrically, ROSALÍA compares her self-destructive and combative tendencies to a car crash: "Yo ya no sé por qué no quiere dolerme/Acelero pa' ver si consigo estrellarme (I no longer I know why he doesn't want to hurt me I accelerate to see if I can crash)." It is this kind of lyricism that sets ROSALÍA apart from so many of her global Latinx music peers. "Dolerme" marks a stark departure from her recent pop and urban singles like "Con Altura" and "Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi," but if her upcoming album sounds like this, then another instant classic is on the way.

Score: 85