At first glance, this work may look more like an arduous scholarly challenge than the latest popular music record by an artist who just had a previous hit featured an international K-pop icon. Broken across 4 separate sections and voiced in thirteen languages, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged work that delves into feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and bodily change, often by way of the perspective of various women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards here, supported by the lush sound of a major orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer daring by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars look quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux manages to escape overly intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. While this is not her first album to fuse historical sounds with the present, the stakes feel much greater on Lux, with the balancing act more dramatic. What truly elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk during her height, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts in two, the listener nevertheless want to stay right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This playful spirit shines clearly during a stunning Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy over several minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish force. The track then segues to the frenetic track featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic with this album lies in the listener never exactly understand—or even want to predict—what you is going next."
Almost every track finishes at a totally distinct point from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony before collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her earlier rhythmic work starts off dark and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album is straddling the gap between bold experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in English swells on a chorus that feels to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spins upward. This trick is echoed by another powerful track that expands and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes like a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms via its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural impact of other breakup songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a grand scale, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried treasure that takes patience to fully explore but never seem like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet at which the characters around the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flit from conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about hopeless partners. It is a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly creative visionary.
