At first glance, this album might appear closer to a challenging academic challenge rather than a new pop project from an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with an international K-pop star. Broken into four different movements and performed in thirteen languages, it is a breathtaking orchestral-influenced opus exploring feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and bodily change, frequently through the perspective of different women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, carried by the lush sound of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning composer among an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure daring by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars seem rather small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to avoid dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, with full credit going to Rosalía. While this is not her first project to fuse the past and modern styles, the stakes feel far greater here, with the balancing act far more precarious. The element that really elevates her fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk at her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener up in its tornado. Even when she is tearing your heart apart, you nevertheless want to stay right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This playful energy shines clearly during a stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, and we hear a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top string surge thuds in like comedic impact. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The charm with Lux lies in you rarely quite understand—nor wish to predict—what it will go next."
Almost every song ends at a totally distinct place from how it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a delicate symphony before collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work begins out dark and brooding, with menacing vocals, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of the album is straddling the gap of bold experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in English builds on a chorus that seems to gather more and more infectious hooks as it spirals upward. That trick gets repeated on a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting an ex- lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a grand level, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes time to completely explore but never feels like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record offers a sumptuous banquet at which the characters at it, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
