🔗 Share this article

At first glance, Lux might appear more like an arduous university challenge than the latest popular music album by an artist who just had a last hit featured a global pop star. Split into four separate sections and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a dizzying classical-tinged album exploring female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, frequently through the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is shot heavenward on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a long list of collaborators. The pure daring by itself renders the work of other artists appear quite laughable.

Rising Above Academic Exercise

The fact that this album manages to avoid dry academic posturing is nothing short of a miracle, and full praise going to Rosalía. While it's not the first time project to fuse historical sounds and the present, its ambitions feel far higher here, with the balancing act more pronounced. The element that really elevates her fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of fun. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts in two, you nevertheless want to be alongside her for the ride.

A Signature Moment of Joy

That playful spirit comes forth brightly on the stunning piano-led song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo thuds down like comedic impact. The song then segues to the frenetic track driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.

"The charm of this album lies in the listener never quite understand—nor wish to predict—what you will go next."

Nearly every track finishes in a completely different place from where it started. One moment explores the fleeting nature of fame over a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic work begins out dark and brooding, with menacing beats, before sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften the song's rough corners.

The Balance Of Art and Pop

Another crucial balancing act on the album is navigating the gap of bold experimentation and broad appeal. This is no surprise that the album has become her highest-charting work to break into the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung entirely in the English language builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly nagging hooks as it spirals skyward. This feat is echoed on another powerful ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining layered melodies as an intricate weave.

• A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
• Lyrically, it shares the cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional bully".
• Across these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."

An Opulent Banquet for the Ears

Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art amid of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep source of hidden treasure that requires time to completely mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While other major releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a lavish banquet at which the characters around it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most endlessly inventive practitioner.