Three days ago the official Twitter account that reports on Rosalía’s new album, she published the following text: “Rosalía’s intervention in a video of Rauw Alejandro’s sister [cantante puertorriqueño y pareja de la catalana] trying to define 2021 ″. In the video, just 15 seconds long, the singer appeared laughing, wearing a black mask, with a plate of yellow food that she wagged dangerously in her hand and babbled something difficult to understand. A video of a happy young woman at a party, probably New Years Eve. Nothing weird. However, someone on your team may have found it a bit frivolous for an artist information vehicle and deleted it. They are the two worlds where the Catalan singer has been moving for a long time: that of airing joyful intimacies and that of an artist of great talent. A planetary star in all its dimensions.

Rosalía (Barcelona, ​​29 years old) has only recorded two full-length albums. One of them, flamenco The Angels (2017), with little commercial travel. But offset by Evil wanting (2019), the album that has made her a pop star like she hasn’t been in Spain since Enrique Iglesias. It has been three years and two months of that work and more than 24 months of the completion of the tour. For a long time, however, the Catalan has not stopped being present in the media, on social networks and in interviews with other artists (“what do you think of Rosalía’s success?”). Many times, yes, more has been said about the color and size of his nails than about his music. Soon we will return to comment on his music. In 2022 (probably in the first semester) it will be published Motomami, his third album.

Rosalía has already released a new song, Fame, a bachata with the Canadian star The Weeknd, and is leaving crumbs of the rest on their social networks. It is known that there will be a collaboration with the Dominican Tokischa, with whom he already sang in Linda. The subject is called The Versace combi. Another of the 19 pieces (points to double disc, if at this point we can use these terms vintage) is named Saoko and says: “I am very mine, I transform myself. / A butterfly, I transform. / Makeup from drag queen, I transform. / Showered with stars, I transform myself ”. The American Frank Ocean collaborates in some, without a doubt a point in favor. There are song titles that boast a social theme, such as Money and freedom others lighter (Sponge cake or let’s go there) and some of you know where they will go: Iaia, Lax The Chicken Teriyaki.

The publication Rolling Stone en Español (based in Latin America) began its journey last November and featured Rosalía on the cover, with an interview and exclusive listening to Motomami. In the text the work is defined as follows: “Motomami it is a set of binomials that make up, in dissonant pairs, a masterpiece based on progressions, synthesizers and saturated organs. It is an avant-garde album that reflects Rosalía’s roots and technical capabilities, and when she finishes listening to it she leaves more questions than answers ”. Enigmatic, no doubt. Then he cites as referring to Nine Inch Nails, Moby, Beastie Boys or Lorde. No Spanish music. Soon we will know the true dimension of, without a doubt, the most anticipated album of the year that begins.

Other important names of Spanish pop will publish work in 2022. Manolo García has announced it for spring, three years after Ray geometry. And it will hit the road immediately, on May 21 in Valladolid to finish on December 20 at the WiZink Center in Madrid. The new Nacho Vegas arrives earlier, in January under the name of Still worlds falling apart and he also goes on tour the first month of the year. The Planets will be others with new work. At the international level, they will have an album in stores and on the internet platforms Cat Power, Elvis Costello, Jack White, Björk, Arcade Fire, the meeting of the Faces (with Rod Stewart, Ron Wood and Kenney Jones) and the possible return to the records with unreleased tracks by The Rolling Stones after 16 years, after Bigger Bang (2005).

In March we should have full normality. We really do not see any danger for the cancellation of any event, festival, concert from these dates. Mad Cool will be a reality this summer of 2022

Javier Arnáiz, director of Mad Cool

2022 should be the year of normality for live music shows. No social distance and no masks. With omicron infecting the world, some begin to doubt. The official message in the sector is: we move on, nothing is canceled. In private, in addition, wood is touched. Javier Arnáiz, one of those responsible for the Mad Cool festival, analyzes it for EL PAÍS: “According to the experts consulted, the trend with the new strain is that infections rise very quickly and fall at the same speed, so the indications of All this places us with a maximum peak of infections before the end of January and a downward trend from February. In March we should have full normality. We really do not see any danger for the cancellation of any event, festival or concert from these dates. Mad Cool will be a reality this summer of 2022 ″.

It would be a catastrophe of such dimensions that for the third year live music is paralyzed without restrictions that nobody wants to place that horror story in their imagination. But the vagaries of the virus are indecipherable and the international tours of the first months of the year will depend on the incidence in Europe. Texas, Franz Ferdinand, Bring Me The Horizon or Bryan Adams are scheduled to visit Spain in the first quarter. We’ll see who holds out … In April is when the massive festivals start, with SanSan (Benicàssim) and Viña Rock (Viñarobledo, Albacete). From there we may be in the most apotheosis of the festival year, due to the number of them and the names. Some of those who visit us: Metallica, Muse, Jack White, The Killers (Mad Cool); J. Balvin, Pet Shop Boys (Bilbao BBK Live); Beck, Nick Cave, Gorillaz, The Strokes (Primavera Sound); Kiss, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper (Barcelona Rock Fest); Patti Smith, The Offspring, L7 (Azkena Rock Festival); Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee (Madrid Puro Reggaeton); Arctic Monkeys (Cala Mijas) … And outside of festivals, The Cure, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N ‘Roses, Aerosmith, Dua Lipa, Iron Maiden, Foo Fighters have been announced … It only remains for some of the female pop stars to be confirmed ( Adele, Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish) to consider it the best year of concerts ever experienced in Spain.

There is such saturation that some established Spanish musicians (Leiva, Fito & Fitipaldis, Manolo García …) have found it difficult to find dates for their tour because most of the large capacity venues are busy. “We are all going to go out in a rush to make up for lost time and it can have a negative effect, and that is that there will be no room for those who start,” Leiva said in ABC. The director of Mad Cool does not believe that there is anything negative in the congestion of concerts: “Based on the data that we handle, sales are better than ever at the European level, and Spain is no exception, since the public needs to live experiences social. I think that in general the entire sector is going to be strengthened. In addition, it is necessary to help the music companies, which have had a very bad time with two years of mandatory hiatus ”.

In case something was missing from the musical 2022, this will be the farewell to the stages of Joan Manuel Serrat. On June 8 he begins his last tour in Murcia to end in December in Barcelona. Prepare the tissues to dry the tears. They will be a highly gratifying tears to say goodbye to a great just the year of the return to normality of the live shows.