On the surface, Lux might appear more like a challenging university examination than a new pop record by an artist who just had a previous hit featured a global pop star. Broken into four distinct sections and performed in thirteen languages, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced opus that delves into feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and physical change, often via the lens of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot upwards here, supported by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the efforts of other artists look rather small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux manages to transcend overly intellectual chin-stroking is almost miraculous, with complete praise belonging to the artist. While it's not her first project to blend historical sounds with the present, its scale are much higher here, and the balancing act far more precarious. What really raises her fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, dense compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be a core spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its tornado. When she's breaking your heart in two, the listener still desire to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
That playful energy comes forth clearly on a stirring Italian ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Then, everything falls silent, and we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes in like cartoonish force. The song then shifts into the wild single featuring racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album is that you rarely quite know—nor want to predict—what it will go to next."
Nearly each track concludes at a completely distinct point than where it started. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into electronic chaos. Another, a song that recalls her earlier trap-infused work begins out moody and sinister, with menacing vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften its rough corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act on Lux is navigating the gap between bold experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has become the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung primarily in English builds on a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spins upward. This feat is echoed by another expansive track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple melodies as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux is pop on a grand scale, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried treasure that requires time to completely mine but never seem like hard work. Where other big releases of the year felt like a meager meal, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the characters at the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flit from conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's most restlessly creative practitioner.
