At first glance, this album might appear more like a challenging academic examination than a new popular music project from an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Broken into 4 distinct movements and sung in thirteen languages, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced opus investigating feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and corporal change, frequently via the lens of different women saints. The end of a romance—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, buoyed by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within an extensive roll call of collaborators. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the work of other pop stars seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid dry academic posturing is almost miraculous, with sole credit belonging to the artist. Although this is not her first album to blend historical sounds with the present, its ambitions feel much higher on Lux, and the balancing act far more precarious. The element that really raises her fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk during her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its tornado. When she is breaking hearts in two, you still want to be alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit shines brightly during the stunning piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four moments. Then, all the music falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle and a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in like comedic force. The track then shifts into the frenetic single driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The magic of this album lies in you rarely quite understand—nor want to know—what it is going next."
Almost every track concludes at a totally different place from how it began. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a delicate orchestration before collapsing into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's previous trap-infused work begins off moody and sinister, with prowling vocals, before sudden traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
A key achievement of the album involves straddling the gap of bold experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable hits. One track performed primarily in English swells around a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging melodies while it spins skyward. That trick gets echoed on a different expansive ballad that grows and constricts, weaving layered melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing carry a sharp smile, like a storybook character concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant well of buried gems that takes time to fully explore but doesn't seem like hard work. While some big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish feast where the characters around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flit from conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
