At first glance, this album might appear closer to an arduous scholarly challenge than a new pop album from a musician who just had a last hit was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken across 4 separate movements and sung in thirteen languages, we have a dizzying orchestral-influenced album investigating female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, frequently through the lens of various women saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot heavenward here, buoyed by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring by itself renders the work of other artists look rather laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in escape overly academic posturing is almost miraculous, with full credit going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to blend the past with modern styles, the stakes feel far greater here, with the balancing act far more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of fun. Much like the legendary artist at her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you into its tornado. When she is tearing your heart apart, you still desire to be alongside her through the journey.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on a stunning Italian song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Then, everything falls silent, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a comment prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo thuds down like comedic force. The track immediately shifts into the wild track driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic of this album lies in the listener never exactly understand—nor wish to know—what it will go to next."
Nearly each track ends in a completely different place from how it began. A track explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate symphony only to collapsing in digital cacophony. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts off moody and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Pop
Another crucial balancing act of the album is navigating the line of bold innovation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language builds on a chorus that seems to gather more and more infectious melodies while it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed on a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture impact of other heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a grand level, an ambitious reach for high artistry in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant well of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous banquet where the guests around it, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and common stories about useless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly creative practitioner.