On the surface, this album could seem more like an arduous university examination than a new pop album by an artist who just had a last single featured a global pop star. Divided across four distinct sections and performed in 13 languages, this is a breathtaking classical-tinged opus investigating feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, often through the lens of various saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—is shot upwards on this record, carried by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself renders the efforts of contemporary artists seem quite small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape dry academic chin-stroking is almost miraculous, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time project to fuse historical sounds with modern styles, the ambitions feel much greater here, and the balancing act more precarious. What truly elevates her fourth album, beyond its complex melodies, rich compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener into its tornado. Even when she's breaking your heart apart, the listener still desire to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit shines brightly on the stunning Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for several moments. Then, all the music falls silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration before a comically over-the-top string surge crashes in with cartoonish force. The song immediately segues into the frenetic single driven by racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with this album is that you never exactly know—or even want to predict—what it is going next."
Nearly each song finishes at a totally different place from how it started. A track examines the fleeting trappings of fame with a delicate symphony only to disintegrating in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her previous rhythmic work starts out moody and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften its jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement on Lux is navigating the gap of radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is little surprise that the album has achieved her first work to break into the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable hits. One track sung primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that feels to collect increasingly infectious melodies while it spirals skyward. That trick gets echoed by a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents pop on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep well of buried treasure that takes time to completely mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While some big releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, this record offers a sumptuous banquet at which the characters around it, some tipsy on holy wine, flit between discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly endlessly creative visionary.
