Rosalía’s fourth studio album, Divine Influence luxunfolding in four parts and 13 languages, with multiple choirs contributing to the prog chart-topping wonder. It’s a sonic scripture about desire and destruction that invokes God accordingly: Patti Smith.
A recording of Smith’s 1976 interview concludes the flamenco ballad “La Yugular.” In the song, Rosalia sings about a love she would destroy hell for. Smith, whose transcendent relationship with the late artist Robert Mapplethorpe is a rich subject for the memoir, urges her to aim higher: “Seven heavens? No big deal. I want to see the eighth heaven, the tenth heaven, the thousand heavens. The thousand heavens. You know, it’s like breaking through to the other side! Like walking through a door—one door isn’t enough. A million doors aren’t enough.”
In a recent interview with BBC 6 Music, Rosalía described meeting Smith. “Basically I remember walking down the stairs. I was wearing this white dress. I was walking down the stairs and was like, ‘Oh my god, I don’t want Patti Smith to wait!'”
The singer continued: “I just arrived and she was so… she had this light in her face, in her eyes, in her smile, and I couldn’t believe it… She just pointed at the dress that I remember and said, ‘I love your dress.’ And then she talked to me about the song, and then we started sharing, and it was one of the most beautiful things to ever see her, because I really admire her.”
Smith created a new form of music history with his 1975 debut album, horses. Even the story of the premiere reads like something out of legend: Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sam Shepard and Anne Waldman were reportedly in the audience. Smith is best known for his music and writing, especially just kids (2010), chronicles her relationship with Mapplethorpe, beginning with their formative years in 1960s New York City and continuing through their adventures in Warhol’s Factory.
Smith also photographed people and places relevant to her personal life and worked in painting and mixed media. In 2011, she held her first solo photography exhibition at the Wadsworth Athenaeum. “Each photo is like a diary of my life,” Smith says of her practice.
except her spotlight luxSmith also released her latest memoir, angel breadlast week.
