Initially, Lux could seem more like a difficult university quiz rather than the latest pop project from a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop star. Divided across 4 different movements and sung in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic work exploring female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, often through the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, supported by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive list of contributors. Its sheer ambition alone renders the work of other artists appear quite small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to transcend overly academic posturing is almost a miracle, and full credit going to Rosalía. While this is not the first time project to alchemize the past with the present, the stakes feel far higher on Lux, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core sense of fun. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, there is a wondrous quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing your heart apart, the listener still want to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful energy shines clearly during the stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds in with cartoonish force. The track then segues to the wild single driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with Lux lies in the listener rarely quite know—nor wish to predict—what it will go to next."
Almost each song finishes at a completely distinct place than where it began. One moment examines the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Another, a song that recalls her earlier trap-infused style begins off moody and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on Lux is straddling the gap of radical innovation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that the album has become the artist's highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy hits. One track performed primarily in English swells around a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging hooks while it spins skyward. That trick gets repeated by another powerful ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural honesty of other heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a grand level, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry amid of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews solipsism for glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep well of buried treasure that takes time to fully explore but never seem like hard work. Where other big pop albums of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a lavish banquet where the guests around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit from conversations about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about hopeless partners. It is a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
