On the surface, Lux may look more like an arduous scholarly challenge than the latest pop album by an artist whose last single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken into 4 distinct movements and voiced in thirteen tongues, we have a dizzying symphonic work exploring feminine mystery, religious ascent, and physical change, often through the lens of different saintly figures. The end of a romance—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast list of contributors. Its sheer audacity alone renders the efforts of other pop stars look rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That Lux succeeds in escape overly intellectual posturing is nearly miraculous, and complete praise belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and the present, its stakes feel far higher here, and the balancing act far more pronounced. The element that really elevates her fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core sense of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a captivating quality to the vocalist's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she's tearing your heart in two, you nevertheless want to be right there for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly during the stunning Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over several minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes down with comedic impact. The song immediately segues to the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The magic with this album lies in you rarely quite understand—or even want to predict—what it is going next."
Nearly every track concludes at a completely different place from how it began. A track examines the transient nature of fame with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into electronic chaos. Another, a song echoing her previous trap-infused work begins off moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Accessibility
A key achievement of the album involves straddling the line of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is little coincidence that the album has become the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in English swells on a chorus that seems to collect more and more infectious hooks while it spins skyward. This feat is repeated on another powerful ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism for glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its own built-in excess. This is a deep source of buried treasure that requires time to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While some big pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux offers a lavish feast where the characters around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about useless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most restlessly creative practitioner.
