Initially, this work could seem more like a challenging academic quiz rather than a new pop project by a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split into four different movements and voiced in thirteen tongues, this is a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work that delves into feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, frequently via the perspective of various women saints. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars seem rather laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in escape dry academic chin-stroking feels nothing short of a miracle, and full credit belonging to Rosalía. While this is not the first time project to blend historical sounds and modern styles, its ambitions feel much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. What truly raises this fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be a core sense of joy. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she is breaking hearts apart, you still want to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit shines brightly during a stirring piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for several moments. Then, all the music drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle and a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge thuds down like comedic force. The song immediately shifts into the wild single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm of this album is that you never exactly know—or even want to predict—where it is going to next."
Nearly each track finishes in a totally distinct place from how it started. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight symphony before collapsing in electronic chaos. Another, a cut echoing her earlier rhythmic work starts off dark and sinister, featuring prowling beats, until sudden traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth its rough edges.
The Balance Between Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement on Lux involves navigating the line between radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in the English language swells around a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. That feat gets echoed on a different powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover labeled an "psychological bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its own inherent excess. It is an abundant well of buried gems that takes patience to fully mine but never seem like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux is a lavish feast at which the guests around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
