On the surface, Lux could seem closer to a challenging university quiz rather than a new pop record by a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Divided into 4 distinct sections and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, frequently through the perspective of various saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a topic treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards on this record, supported by the lush presence of a full orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among a vast list of contributors. Its sheer ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear rather modest.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking feels nearly a miracle, with sole credit going to Rosalía. Although it's not her first album to blend historical sounds with modern styles, its scale feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is an essential sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its tornado. When she is tearing your heart in two, the listener still desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly during the stunning Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls silent, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down with cartoonish impact. The track then shifts to the wild single featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with this album lies in the listener never quite know—or even wish to predict—where you will go to next."
Nearly each song concludes in a completely distinct place than where it started. A track explores the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony only to collapsing in digital chaos. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work begins out moody and brooding, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its rough corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act of the album involves straddling the line of bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. It is little coincidence that it has become the artist's first work to break into the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. A song sung entirely in English builds around a chorus that seems to gather more and more infectious melodies while it spins upward. This trick gets repeated by another powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares with cultural honesty of other breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the singing carry a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a grand level, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried treasure that requires time to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While some major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
