On the surface, this album may look more like a challenging scholarly challenge than a new pop album from an artist who just had a last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Divided across four different parts and voiced in 13 languages, we have a dizzying symphonic opus investigating female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, frequently through the lens of various women saints. The end of a romance—a topic handled with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched heavenward here, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of collaborators. The pure daring alone renders the work of contemporary artists appear rather modest.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
That this album manages to escape overly intellectual chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, and full credit going to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time album to alchemize historical sounds and modern styles, its stakes are much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that really elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Much like the iconic Björk during her peak, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you into its tornado. When she is breaking hearts in two, you nevertheless want to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines brightly on the stirring Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge thuds in like comedic impact. The song then segues into the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with Lux lies in the listener rarely quite know—or even wish to predict—what you is going next."
Nearly each song finishes in a totally different place from where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of fame over a delicate orchestration before collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic work starts out dark and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment and Accessibility
A key achievement of the album involves navigating the line between bold innovation and mainstream appeal. It is little coincidence that it has achieved her first release to crack the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. A song performed primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to collect increasingly infectious hooks as it spins skyward. That feat gets repeated on another expansive track that expands and constricts, weaving layered melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its built-in excess. It is a deep well of hidden treasure that requires time to completely explore but never feels like a chore. Where some big releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the characters at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flit between conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and common stories about useless partners. It is a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly creative visionary.
