Initially, Lux may look more like a difficult university challenge rather than a new pop project from an artist who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided across 4 separate sections and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced opus exploring feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and corporal change, frequently through the prism of various saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a topic handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—soars skyward on this record, supported by the constant sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning composer within a long list of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the efforts of contemporary artists look rather laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
The fact that this album manages to avoid dry intellectual posturing feels nearly miraculous, and complete praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first project to fuse historical sounds with the present, its scale feel far greater on Lux, with the balancing act far more pronounced. What truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk during her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she is tearing your heart in two, you still desire to be alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stunning Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over several moments. Then, all the music falls silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down like comedic force. The track immediately segues to the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The magic of Lux is that you rarely exactly know—nor wish to know—what it is going to next."
Almost every song concludes in a completely distinct place than how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her earlier rhythmic work starts off moody and brooding, with menacing vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir arrive to smooth its rough corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on the album is straddling the line of radical experimentation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that the album has achieved her first release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies as it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed on another powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song charms with its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a painted-on smile, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux is popular music on a grand level, an ambitious reach for high Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that requires time to completely mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the guests around the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most endlessly inventive visionary.
