At first glance, this work might appear more like a challenging academic challenge than the latest popular music record from an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Divided into 4 separate parts and performed in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, often by way of the lens of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—soars heavenward here, buoyed by the constant presence of a full orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a long roll call of collaborators. The pure audacity alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem rather modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, with sole praise going to Rosalía. Although it's not her first project to fuse the past and the present, its scale feel far greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more dramatic. The element that really elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential spirit of playfulness. Much like the iconic artist at her peak, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she is tearing hearts apart, the listener still want to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This playful energy shines brightly during a stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four moments. Then, all the music drops silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string surge thuds down like cartoonish impact. The song then segues to the wild track driven by galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.
"The magic with Lux is that you rarely quite understand—or even want to know—where you will go to next."
Nearly every song ends in a totally different place from where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony before collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous trap-infused work begins out dark and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act of Lux is straddling the line of radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is no surprise that the album has become her first work to break into the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in English builds around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. This feat gets repeated on a different powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
Lux is popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its inherent excess. This is an abundant well of hidden treasure that takes time to completely explore but never feels like hard work. Where some big releases of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
