The third edition of the Academy of Music Awards crowned Rosalía as the big winner of the night. Her album Lux won eight awards, including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best Song for La Perla. Leiva followed with four awards, while names like Amaral, Luz Casal, Fito y Fitipaldis, and Lia Kali also stood out in various categories. The most emotional moment was the presentation of the first Honorary Award to Joan Manuel Serrat.
The backstage and technical production that supports the sound of Lux 🎛️
Behind the success of Lux lies sound engineering work that combines analog recording with digital processing. The production was handled by Rosalía alongside El Guincho and Noah Goldstein, using ribbon microphones to capture vocal warmth and FET compressors to control the dynamics of flamenco percussion. The final mix was done at Electric Lady Studios in New York, using a Neve 8078 console. Mastering, carried out by Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound, aimed for a wide dynamic range without saturating transient peaks.
Eight awards and an honorary Serrat: the night no critics were invited 🏆
While Rosalía took home eight statuettes, music critics wondered whether Lux was an album or an IKEA catalog due to its modularity of styles. Leiva, with four awards, proved that you can still succeed without flamenco cajón samples. And Joan Manuel Serrat received his Honorary Award with the same elegance of someone who knows that, even if he doesn't win, his long shadow still covers more than a few. The Academy, for its part, is already thinking about the fourth edition: maybe they'll include the category of Best Acceptance Choreography.