At first glance, this album may look closer to an arduous academic quiz than a new pop album by a musician who just had a previous single featured a global K-pop icon. Broken across 4 separate movements and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning classical-tinged work that delves into female mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often through the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme handled with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched skyward here, buoyed by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of collaborators. The pure daring by itself makes the efforts of other artists seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That this album manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing is almost miraculous, and full praise belonging to the artist. While this is not her first project to blend the past with modern styles, its stakes are far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really raises her fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk during her peak, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart apart, the listener still desire to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during the stirring Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for several moments. Then, everything falls silent, and there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo thuds in like comedic impact. The song immediately segues to the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux lies in the listener never quite understand—nor want to know—what it will go next."
Nearly each song concludes in a completely different point from where it began. A track examines the fleeting trappings of fame with a delicate orchestration before collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and sinister, with prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act of Lux involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is little coincidence that it has become her highest-charting work to break into the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung primarily in the English language builds around a refrain that seems to collect more and more nagging melodies while it spirals upward. This feat gets echoed by another powerful track that expands and constricts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux is pop on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for high Art amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried treasure that requires time to completely mine but doesn't seem like a chore. While some major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a lavish feast where the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on holy drink, flit from discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
