At first glance, this album may look closer to a difficult university examination than a new pop record by a musician who just had a previous single featured an international pop star. Divided into four distinct movements and voiced in 13 tongues, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged album investigating feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and physical transformation, frequently via the lens of different female saints. The end of a relationship—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars upwards on this record, buoyed by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among a vast roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring by itself makes the work of contemporary pop stars appear rather modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux succeeds in avoid overly academic chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, and complete credit going to the artist. While it's not the first time project to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, the ambitions feel far greater here, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. What really elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts in two, the listener still want to be alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit shines clearly during the stirring piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately segues to the wild track featuring galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux lies in the listener never quite understand—or even wish to predict—where it is going to next."
Nearly every song ends at a totally distinct place from how it started. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's previous trap-infused work begins off moody and brooding, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art & Pop
Another crucial achievement on Lux is navigating the line between bold innovation and mainstream appeal. This is little coincidence that it has achieved the artist's first release to break into the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that seems to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spirals upward. That trick is repeated on a different powerful track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, theatrical flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism for glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. It is a deep well of hidden treasure that requires time to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux is a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, some tipsy on sacred drink, flit from discussions about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
