At first glance, this album could seem closer to a challenging scholarly quiz than a new popular music record from an artist whose previous hit featured an international K-pop icon. Divided into 4 different parts and sung in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic album investigating female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often through the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is shot heavenward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a long roll call of collaborators. The pure daring alone renders the work of other pop stars look quite small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking feels nothing short of miraculous, and complete credit going to Rosalía. Although it's not her first album to blend the past with the present, the ambitions are much greater here, with the tightrope walk more pronounced. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential sense of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk during her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit shines brightly on a stunning Italian song about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge thuds in like comedic impact. The song then shifts to the wild single driven by galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux is that the listener rarely quite understand—or even want to know—what it will go to next."
Nearly each song concludes in a totally distinct point from how it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into digital chaos. Another, a cut echoing her earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, until fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act of the album is navigating the line of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in English swells around a refrain that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spins skyward. This trick gets echoed by a different powerful track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for high Art in an era of impending artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep well of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. While some big releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast where the guests at it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about useless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.
