On the surface, this album might appear closer to a difficult university examination rather than a new popular music record from a musician whose last single featured an international pop icon. Split across four different parts and voiced in 13 languages, it is a breathtaking classical-tinged album that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, frequently via the lens of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward here, carried by the constant presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among a long roll call of contributors. The pure audacity alone renders the efforts of contemporary artists seem quite small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to avoid dry academic chin-stroking is nearly miraculous, and sole credit going to Rosalía. While this is not her first project to fuse the past with modern styles, its ambitions are far greater here, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that truly raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of fun. Similar to the legendary artist during her peak, there is a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing your heart apart, the listener nevertheless want to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly on a stunning piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several moments. Then, all the music falls away, and there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down with cartoonish force. The song then segues to the wild track driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux lies in the listener never exactly know—nor want to predict—where you will go to next."
Almost every song concludes at a totally distinct point than where it started. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a delicate symphony only to disintegrating in digital chaos. Another, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic work begins out dark and sinister, featuring prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir arrive to soften its jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Art and Accessibility
A key balancing act of the album is straddling the line between bold innovation and broad accessibility. This is little coincidence that it has become her highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of major markets: at its core a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. One track performed entirely in the English language swells on a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious melodies while it spirals upward. This feat is echoed by a different powerful ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, akin to a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like a chore. While some major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the guests at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
