At first glance, this work may look more like an arduous university quiz rather than the latest popular music album from a musician who just had a last hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Split into four separate parts and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, often by way of the prism of different saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched heavenward here, buoyed by the constant presence of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone renders the efforts of contemporary artists look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of a miracle, and complete praise going to the artist. While this is not the first time album to alchemize the past with the present, its scale feel much higher on Lux, and the balancing act far more pronounced. The element that truly raises this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is a core sense of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her height, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts in two, you still desire to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful spirit shines brightly during a stunning Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top string surge thuds in like comedic impact. The track immediately segues into the wild single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The charm with Lux lies in you never quite understand—or even wish to know—where you will go to next."
Nearly every track ends in a completely different place than how it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic work starts off dark and sinister, with prowling vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Art and Pop
A key balancing act on Lux involves navigating the line of radical innovation and mainstream appeal. This is little coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to collect increasingly infectious hooks while it spins upward. This feat gets repeated on a different expansive ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating a former partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes patience to completely explore but never feels like hard work. While other major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at the table, some tipsy on holy drink, flutter between discussions about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common stories about hopeless partners. It is a modern-day musical from music's truly restlessly creative visionary.
