At first glance, this work could seem closer to a challenging scholarly challenge rather than the latest popular music album from an artist whose last hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Divided into four separate movements and voiced in thirteen languages, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating female mystery, religious ascent, and physical transformation, frequently via the lens of different female saints. The end of a love affair—a theme treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched skyward here, supported by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone renders the efforts of contemporary artists look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux succeeds in escape dry intellectual posturing feels nearly a miracle, and full credit belonging to the artist. Although it's not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and modern styles, the scale are far higher on Lux, with the balancing act more precarious. What truly raises this fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she's breaking your heart apart, you nevertheless want to be alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit comes forth brightly during the stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a comically exaggerated string surge thuds in with comedic force. The song immediately shifts into the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with Lux is that the listener never exactly understand—nor want to predict—where it will go to next."
Almost each song ends in a completely distinct point from how it began. A track examines the transient nature of fame with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into digital chaos. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins off dark and sinister, with prowling vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
A key achievement of Lux is navigating the gap between bold experimentation and broad appeal. This is no surprise that it has become the artist's first release to crack the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. One track sung entirely in English builds around a chorus that feels to gather more and more nagging melodies as it spins skyward. That trick gets repeated by a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving multiple tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry reach for high Art amid of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried gems that requires time to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While other big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.
