Initially, this album may look more like a challenging university challenge than a new pop album by an artist who just had a last hit featured an international pop icon. Split into 4 different sections and performed in 13 tongues, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced album investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily change, often through the perspective of various female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the constant presence of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast list of contributors. The pure ambition by itself makes the work of contemporary pop stars seem rather small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That this album manages to transcend overly academic chin-stroking is nothing short of a miracle, with complete credit going to the artist. Although this is not her first project to blend the past with modern styles, its stakes feel much greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk more pronounced. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be a core sense of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she is breaking your heart in two, the listener still desire to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This playful spirit comes forth brightly during a stunning Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and we hear a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo thuds in like comedic impact. The track then shifts to the wild track featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The charm with Lux lies in you never quite understand—or even wish to know—what it will go to next."
Nearly each track concludes at a completely distinct place from where it began. A track examines the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls her previous trap-infused style starts off dark and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften its jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act of Lux is navigating the gap between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is no coincidence that it has become the artist's first release to break into the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English builds around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spins upward. This trick is repeated by another powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption for glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden treasure that takes time to completely mine but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other major releases of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
