At first glance, Lux might appear closer to a challenging scholarly quiz rather than a new pop project by a musician who just had a last hit featured a global K-pop star. Broken into 4 distinct parts and performed in thirteen languages, we have a dizzying classical-tinged work investigating female mystique, religious transcendence, and physical transformation, frequently via the perspective of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—is shot skyward here, buoyed by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning composer among a vast list of contributors. The pure audacity alone makes the efforts of other pop stars seem rather small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That this album manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, and sole credit belonging to the artist. While it's not her first project to blend historical sounds with modern styles, the ambitions are far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really raises this fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be a core spirit of playfulness. Much like the legendary artist at her peak, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she is breaking your heart in two, the listener still want to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful energy comes forth brightly on the stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Then, everything falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge thuds in like comedic force. The song immediately shifts to the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm of this album is that the listener never quite understand—or even want to know—what you will go to next."
Nearly each track ends at a totally different point from how it began. A track explores the transient trappings of fame over a delicate symphony before disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins off dark and sinister, with prowling vocals, before fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic choir enter to smooth its rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Pop
Another crucial achievement on the album is straddling the gap between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is little surprise that it has become her highest-charting 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 builds on a chorus that seems to gather increasingly infectious melodies as it spins upward. This feat gets repeated by another expansive track that expands and contracts, weaving multiple tunes like a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on smile, like a storybook character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully manages its own built-in excess. It is a deep well of buried treasure that requires time to completely explore but doesn't feels like a chore. While some major pop albums of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests around the table, some tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.
