Initially, this album may look more like a difficult university quiz rather than a new popular music album by an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken across 4 separate sections and sung in 13 languages, it is a dizzying symphonic album exploring feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and physical change, often via the perspective of various female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a major orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer among an extensive list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars look rather small.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux succeeds in avoid overly academic posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, with complete praise belonging to Rosalía. While it's not the first time project to fuse the past with the present, the scale are far higher on Lux, with the balancing act more pronounced. What really raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential sense of joy. Much like the legendary Björk at her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. Even when she is tearing your heart apart, the listener nevertheless want to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit shines brightly during a stunning Italian song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for several moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge crashes down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track featuring racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux is that the listener rarely exactly understand—or even wish to predict—what it is going to next."
Almost each track ends in a totally distinct place than where it began. A track explores the transient nature of fame with a delicate orchestration before disintegrating in digital cacophony. Another, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic work begins off moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Bridge Between Art and Pop
A key balancing act of the album is straddling the gap between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that the album has achieved her first work to break into the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song sung entirely in English builds around a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spins skyward. This trick is echoed on a different powerful track that grows and contracts, weaving layered melodies like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism for sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its built-in excess. It is a deep well of buried gems that requires time to fully explore but doesn't feels like a chore. While other big pop albums of 2025 seemed like feasting on scraps, this record offers a lavish banquet at which the guests around the table, some tipsy on holy drink, flit between conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
