On the surface, Lux might appear more like a challenging scholarly challenge rather than a new pop album by a musician who just had a previous single featured an international K-pop icon. Broken across 4 distinct parts and voiced in thirteen languages, it is a breathtaking symphonic album exploring female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, often via the perspective of various female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of contributors. The pure daring by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux manages to avoid overly academic posturing is almost a miracle, and sole praise going to Rosalía. Although this is not her first project to blend historical sounds and the present, the ambitions feel far greater on Lux, with the balancing act far more dramatic. What truly raises this fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be a core spirit of fun. Much like the legendary artist during her height, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to be alongside her through the journey.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during the stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo crashes in like cartoonish force. The song then shifts into the wild track featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm with this album is that the listener never quite know—or even want to know—what it will go to next."
Nearly each song ends at a completely different place than where it began. One moment examines the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing in digital cacophony. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts out dark and brooding, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album involves navigating the gap between bold experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is little surprise that it has become the artist's first work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung entirely in the English language swells around a chorus that feels to collect increasingly nagging hooks as it spins skyward. This trick is echoed on another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux is pop on a grand scale, a hungry reach for high artistry amid of impending artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism for sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried treasure that takes patience to completely mine but never feels like hard work. Where other big releases of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record is a lavish feast at which the guests around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit from discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most endlessly creative visionary.
