On the surface, this album could seem more like an arduous university challenge than a new popular music project from a musician whose previous hit featured a global pop star. Broken across four different sections and performed in 13 languages, this is a breathtaking symphonic album exploring female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and bodily change, frequently by way of the lens of various female saints. The end of a romance—a topic handled with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—soars heavenward here, carried by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone renders the efforts of contemporary artists look rather small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux succeeds in escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is almost miraculous, and complete praise going to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time album to fuse historical sounds and the present, the scale feel far greater here, and the balancing act more precarious. The element that really raises her fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she is breaking hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This exuberant energy shines brightly on the stunning Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for several moments. Then, everything drops silent, and we hear a gleeful laugh and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo thuds down with cartoonish force. The track immediately segues to the wild track driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux lies in the listener never exactly understand—nor wish to know—what you will go next."
Almost every song concludes in a totally distinct point than how it started. A track examines the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony before collapsing in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic style begins out moody and sinister, with menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act of Lux is straddling the gap of radical innovation and broad accessibility. This is no surprise that it has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy pop songs. A song performed primarily in English builds on a refrain that seems to collect more and more nagging melodies while it spirals upward. That trick gets repeated by a different powerful ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining layered melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a storybook character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux is popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. It is a deep source of buried treasure that takes time to completely explore but never seem like hard work. Where some big releases of the year felt like feasting on meal, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet at which the characters at it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flutter from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
