At first glance, this work might appear more like an arduous university challenge than a new popular music album from an artist whose last single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken across 4 separate parts and voiced in 13 tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged opus exploring female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often via the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward on this record, supported by the constant sound of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer within an extensive list of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself makes the work of contemporary pop stars appear quite modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That this album manages to avoid dry academic posturing feels nearly miraculous, and full praise going to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time project to fuse the past and modern styles, the scale feel far greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really raises this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she is tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless want to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines clearly during the stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, everything falls away, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in like comedic impact. The track immediately shifts into the frenetic track featuring racing strings, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.
"The magic with Lux is that the listener rarely quite understand—nor wish to know—where you is going next."
Almost every track finishes in a totally different place than how it began. One moment examines the transient nature of fame with a delicate symphony before collapsing into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her previous trap-infused style starts out dark and brooding, with menacing vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir arrive to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
A key achievement of the album involves navigating the gap between radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is no surprise that the album has achieved her first release to crack the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song sung primarily in English builds around a chorus that feels to collect increasingly nagging hooks while it spirals skyward. That trick is repeated by another powerful ballad that expands and constricts, weaving layered tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural impact of other breakup anthems, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "psychological bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its inherent excess. This is a deep well of hidden gems that takes time to fully mine but never feels like a chore. While other major releases of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux is a sumptuous banquet where the characters at it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit from discussions about ancient figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly creative visionary.
