At first glance, this album might appear more like an arduous scholarly quiz than the latest pop project from an artist who just had a previous single featured an international pop star. Broken into four distinct movements and performed in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged album that delves into feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and physical transformation, often through the perspective of different women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched skyward here, supported by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a long list of collaborators. The pure ambition alone renders the work of other artists look quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape overly academic posturing is almost miraculous, with sole credit going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to fuse the past with modern styles, the scale feel much higher on Lux, and the balancing act more dramatic. What truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, there is a wondrous sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. When she is tearing hearts apart, the listener nevertheless want to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly during the stirring Italian song about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over several minutes. Suddenly, everything falls away, and we hear a gleeful laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge crashes in with comedic force. The song then shifts into the frenetic single driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with Lux lies in you never exactly know—nor wish to know—where it is going next."
Almost every song finishes in a completely different point than how it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate symphony before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier trap-infused style begins off moody and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften its rough corners.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
Another crucial balancing act of the album is straddling the gap between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little coincidence that the album has achieved her first work to break into the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. A song sung primarily in English builds around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious hooks as it spirals skyward. That trick gets repeated by a different powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of other heartbreak songs, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album is popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for high Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of buried treasure that takes patience to fully explore but never seem like hard work. While other major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a lavish feast where the guests around it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
