At first glance, this work might appear closer to a difficult scholarly challenge rather than a new pop project by a musician whose last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Divided across four separate sections and sung in 13 languages, we have a dizzying orchestral-influenced opus investigating female mystery, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently through the lens of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—soars skyward here, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long roll call of contributors. Its sheer audacity alone makes the efforts of other pop stars appear rather small.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to escape dry intellectual posturing is nearly miraculous, and full praise belonging to the artist. While this is not her first project to alchemize the past and modern styles, the stakes feel far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, dense compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist at her peak, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking hearts apart, the listener nevertheless want to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant spirit shines clearly on a stirring Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four minutes. Then, all the music falls away, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration prior to a hilariously over-the-top string surge thuds down with cartoonish force. The song then shifts into the frenetic single featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm of this album lies in you never exactly know—nor want to know—where you will go next."
Nearly every track concludes in a completely distinct point from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting nature of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins off moody and sinister, with prowling vocals, before sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften its jagged edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act on Lux is straddling the gap of bold innovation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable hits. One track performed entirely in English builds around a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging melodies as it spirals upward. That feat is repeated on a different powerful ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of other breakup anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux is popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of hidden treasure that takes time to fully explore but never seem like a chore. While other big releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless partners. It is a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
