At first glance, this album could seem closer to a difficult scholarly quiz than a new popular music album by an artist who just had a previous hit featured a global pop star. Broken across 4 distinct parts and sung in 13 tongues, this is a breathtaking symphonic album exploring feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and physical change, often through the prism of different female saints. The end of a relationship—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars seem quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
That Lux succeeds in transcend overly academic posturing is nothing short of a miracle, with full praise belonging to the artist. Although this is not her first album to fuse historical sounds and the present, its scale are far greater here, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. What truly raises this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic artist during her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, you still desire to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly during a stirring Italian song about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for several moments. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a comically exaggerated string surge thuds down with comedic force. The song immediately shifts to the wild single driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with Lux lies in you rarely exactly know—nor want to know—what you will go next."
Nearly every song finishes in a completely different place than where it started. One moment examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration before collapsing in electronic cacophony. Another, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused style starts off moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to soften its rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act of Lux is navigating the line between radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. It is little surprise that the album has become the artist's highest-charting work to break into the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track sung entirely in the English language swells around a refrain that feels to collect increasingly nagging hooks as it spirals skyward. That feat gets echoed on a different powerful ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for high artistry in an era of impending artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption for glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden treasure that takes patience to completely explore but never seem like a chore. Where some major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, some tipsy on holy drink, flit from discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
