On the surface, this work could seem more like a challenging scholarly challenge rather than a new popular music album from an artist whose last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Divided across 4 separate movements and sung in 13 tongues, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album investigating feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently through the lens of different women saints. The end of a love affair—a theme treated with grounded openness elsewhere—soars heavenward here, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition by itself makes the efforts of other artists look rather modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid overly academic posturing is nothing short of miraculous, and full praise going to the artist. While this is not her first project to alchemize the past and the present, the ambitions are much greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. What truly raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart apart, the listener nevertheless want to stay right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on a stunning piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over several minutes. Suddenly, everything drops silent, and there's a gleeful laugh and a declaration before a comically exaggerated string crescendo thuds in like comedic force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux lies in you rarely quite understand—or even want to predict—what it is going next."
Almost each track ends in a completely different point from how it started. A track examines the fleeting trappings of fame over a featherlight symphony only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous trap-infused work begins out dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of the album involves navigating the line between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. This is little coincidence that it has become the artist's highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. A song performed primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that feels to gather more and more infectious hooks while it spirals upward. This feat is repeated on another powerful ballad that grows and contracts, weaving layered tunes like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of other breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album is pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its own built-in excess. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that requires time to fully explore but never seem like hard work. Where other big pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the guests at the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flit from discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
