On the surface, this album may look closer to a challenging university challenge rather than the latest popular music album from a musician who just had a last hit featured a global K-pop icon. Split into 4 distinct parts and sung in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged opus that delves into female mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often by way of the lens of different female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter within an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure daring alone renders the work of other pop stars appear rather modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in avoid dry academic chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, and full credit going to Rosalía. While this is not the first time album to blend the past with modern styles, its scale feel much greater on Lux, with the balancing act more pronounced. The element that truly raises her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Much like the iconic artist during her peak, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. When she is tearing hearts in two, the listener still want to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That playful energy shines clearly during the stirring Italian song about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over several minutes. Then, everything drops silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle and a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes down with comedic impact. The song immediately shifts into the wild single driven by racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm of this album is that you rarely exactly know—or even wish to predict—where you is going to next."
Nearly each song ends at a totally different point than how it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating in digital cacophony. Another, a song that recalls her earlier rhythmic work starts out moody and brooding, featuring prowling beats, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
A key balancing act of Lux is straddling the gap between radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's first release to crack the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed primarily in English builds around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies as it spins skyward. This trick is echoed by a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms with its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of other heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, like a storybook character concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry reach for high artistry in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. It is a deep source of hidden treasure that takes patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like a chore. Where some big releases of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record offers a sumptuous feast at which the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
