Initially, Lux might appear more like an arduous university quiz rather than the latest pop record from a musician who just had a previous single featured an international pop star. Split across 4 separate movements and voiced in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic work exploring feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, often by way of the lens of different women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, supported by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the work of other artists seem quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to transcend dry academic chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, and complete credit belonging to Rosalía. While this is not the first time project to fuse historical sounds with modern styles, the stakes are much higher here, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her height, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its tornado. When she's tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly on the stirring Italian song about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four moments. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes down with comedic force. The song immediately segues to the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with this album lies in you never exactly know—nor wish to know—where you is going next."
Almost each song concludes in a totally different place than where it began. One moment explores the fleeting nature of celebrity with a delicate symphony only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her previous trap-infused style begins off moody and sinister, with prowling beats, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
A key balancing act of the album involves straddling the line between radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that it has become her highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of truly catchy hits. A song performed primarily in English swells around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious hooks while it spins skyward. This trick is echoed on a different powerful track that grows and constricts, weaving layered tunes as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting an ex- lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux is pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its inherent excess. It is a deep source of hidden gems that takes patience to fully explore but never seem like a chore. While some big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record is a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
