At first glance, this album may look more like a difficult university challenge than a new pop project by a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split across 4 distinct parts and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a breathtaking classical-tinged album exploring feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently via the perspective of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, supported by the lush sound of a full orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a long roll call of contributors. The pure ambition alone makes the efforts of other pop stars appear quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in transcend overly academic posturing feels nothing short of miraculous, with full praise going to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time album to alchemize the past and modern styles, the scale feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. The element that really elevates her fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is a core sense of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart apart, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during the stirring Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down with cartoonish impact. The song then segues to the frenetic single driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener rarely exactly know—or even want to know—what you will go next."
Nearly each song finishes in a completely different place than how it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into digital chaos. Another, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic work starts off moody and sinister, featuring menacing vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth its rough corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
A key achievement on Lux involves straddling the line of radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that it has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track sung primarily in English swells on a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies as it spins upward. This trick is echoed on another powerful ballad that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents pop on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art amid of impending artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of sublime elevation, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its own inherent excess. This is an abundant well of hidden treasure that requires patience to completely mine but doesn't feels like a chore. Where other big releases of 2025 felt like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish feast at which the characters around the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flit from discussions about ancient figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
