At first glance, this work may look closer to a challenging university quiz than the latest popular music record by a musician who just had a previous single featured an international K-pop star. Broken across 4 separate parts and voiced in thirteen languages, this is a breathtaking classical-tinged opus that delves into feminine mystery, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, often by way of the lens of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, carried by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among an extensive list of contributors. The pure ambition by itself makes the work of other artists appear quite small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in escape overly academic posturing feels nearly miraculous, with full credit going to Rosalía. While this is not the first time album to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, the scale are far greater here, with the balancing act more dramatic. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, the listener still want to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That playful energy shines brightly on a stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four minutes. Then, everything falls silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish impact. The song then shifts to the frenetic single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The magic of this album is that you rarely exactly understand—or even wish to know—where it will go to next."
Nearly every song ends at a completely distinct place than how it started. A track explores the transient nature of celebrity over a featherlight symphony only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts out dark and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir arrive to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
Another crucial balancing act on Lux involves straddling the gap of bold innovation and mainstream appeal. This is no coincidence that it has achieved her first release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English swells around a chorus that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spins upward. That feat is repeated on a different powerful track that grows and contracts, weaving multiple melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing have a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that takes patience to fully mine but never feels like hard work. Where other big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about useless men. It is a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
