At first glance, Lux could seem more like a challenging academic examination rather than the latest popular music album from an artist whose last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Divided across four different parts and voiced in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged opus that delves into female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, frequently via the perspective of different women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition by itself makes the efforts of contemporary artists seem quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to avoid overly intellectual posturing feels nearly miraculous, and sole praise going to Rosalía. While this is not her first project to alchemize historical sounds with modern styles, the scale feel much greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. What really raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice which sweeps you up in its tornado. When she is breaking your heart apart, the listener still desire to be right there through the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on the stirring piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Then, all the music drops away, and there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds down with cartoonish force. The song then shifts to the wild track featuring racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The magic of this album is that you never quite know—or even want to predict—where you will go to next."
Almost each track finishes at a totally distinct place than where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous rhythmic work starts out dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act of the album involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and broad appeal. This is no coincidence that it has achieved her first release to break into the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track sung entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that seems to collect increasingly infectious hooks as it spins upward. That feat gets echoed on a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining layered tunes like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural impact of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former partner labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a sharp edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry amid of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in excess. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that requires patience to completely mine but doesn't feels like hard work. Where other big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast at which the characters at the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
