On the surface, this work might appear closer to an arduous scholarly challenge rather than a new popular music record from a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Broken into four distinct sections and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work that delves into feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and bodily transformation, often via the perspective of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—soars skyward here, carried by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself makes the work of other pop stars look quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in transcend overly academic chin-stroking is nearly miraculous, with complete credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to blend historical sounds with the present, its scale feel far higher on Lux, and the balancing act far more precarious. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she is tearing your heart apart, you nevertheless want to be right there through the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit shines brightly during a stirring Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge thuds down like cartoonish force. The track then segues into the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The charm of Lux lies in the listener never quite know—or even want to predict—where you will go next."
Almost each song concludes at a totally different place than how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a featherlight symphony only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts off dark and sinister, featuring prowling beats, until sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth its rough corners.
The Bridge Of Art & Accessibility
A key balancing act of the album involves straddling the gap of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's first work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in English swells around a refrain that seems to gather more and more nagging hooks while it spirals upward. That trick is echoed on a different powerful track that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns with pop culture impact of other heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album represents pop on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for high Art amid of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried gems that takes patience to completely mine but never seem like hard work. Where some major releases of the year felt like feasting on meal, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the characters at the table, perhaps tipsy on holy drink, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
