On the surface, this work might appear more like an arduous academic quiz than a new popular music album from an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Split across 4 separate parts and sung in thirteen languages, it is a head-spinning classical-tinged album that delves into feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and bodily change, frequently through the prism of different women saints. The end of a relationship—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast roll call of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars look quite laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, with sole credit going to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to blend the past and the present, the ambitions feel far higher on Lux, and the balancing act far more precarious. What truly raises this fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be a core sense of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart in two, you nevertheless desire to be alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That playful spirit comes forth clearly during a stirring piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four minutes. Then, everything falls silent, and there's a gleeful giggle and a comment before a comically exaggerated string crescendo crashes in like comedic force. The track then shifts to the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The magic of this album is that the listener rarely exactly know—nor wish to predict—what it will go next."
Nearly every track concludes in a totally different place from how it began. One moment examines the transient nature of fame with a delicate symphony before disintegrating into digital cacophony. Another, a song that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic work begins off dark and brooding, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth its jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
A key balancing act on Lux involves navigating the gap of bold experimentation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that the album has become her first work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. A song sung entirely in English builds around a refrain that feels to collect increasingly nagging hooks as it spirals upward. That trick is echoed on another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover labeled an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing have a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep well of hidden treasure that takes patience to completely mine but doesn't seem like a chore. While other major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet at which the guests at it, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and common stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative visionary.
