On the surface, this album might appear closer to a challenging university challenge than a new popular music record by a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop star. Split into 4 different parts and voiced in 13 tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged work exploring feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, often through the prism of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched skyward here, buoyed by the constant presence of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive list of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the work of other artists appear quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That this album succeeds in transcend overly academic chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, and sole praise belonging to the artist. Although it's not her first album to fuse historical sounds and the present, the stakes feel much greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more pronounced. What truly raises this fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This playful spirit comes forth clearly on the stunning Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo thuds down with comedic force. The track then segues into the frenetic single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm with this album is that you never exactly know—or even wish to know—where you is going next."
Nearly each song ends in a totally distinct point from how it started. A track examines the transient trappings of fame with a delicate symphony only to disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic style begins off dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
A key balancing act of the album is navigating the line between radical experimentation and broad appeal. This is no coincidence that it has achieved her first release to crack the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a collection of truly undeniable hits. One track performed entirely in English builds on a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging hooks while it spirals upward. This feat gets echoed on another powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining layered melodies like a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number charms with its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux is pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its own inherent excess. It is a deep source of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet where the guests around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flutter from conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most endlessly inventive visionary.
