Initially, this work might appear closer to a challenging scholarly challenge than the latest popular music album by a musician whose last single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Divided into four separate movements and sung in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying orchestral-influenced album that delves into feminine mystique, religious ascent, and bodily change, frequently via the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched heavenward on this record, buoyed by the lush sound of a full orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive list of contributors. Its sheer daring alone renders the efforts of contemporary artists seem quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape dry academic posturing is almost a miracle, with full credit going to the artist. Although this is not the first time project to alchemize the past and modern styles, its scale feel much higher here, with the balancing act far more precarious. The element that truly elevates her fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. When she's breaking your heart apart, you still desire to stay right there for the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant energy shines brightly on the stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four moments. Suddenly, everything drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle followed by a declaration before a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds down with cartoonish force. The song then segues to the wild single featuring galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm with Lux is that you never quite know—nor wish to predict—where it is going next."
Nearly each song finishes in a totally distinct point from how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused style begins off dark and sinister, with menacing beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act on Lux is navigating the line between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a chorus that feels to collect increasingly nagging hooks as it spirals upward. This trick is repeated by another expansive ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux is pop on a grand level, an ambitious grasp for high Art amid of impending artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in excess. It is a deep source of buried gems that takes time to completely mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While other big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
