Initially, this album may look closer to a difficult scholarly challenge rather than a new pop album by a musician whose last hit featured a global pop star. Divided into four different sections and performed in 13 tongues, we have a dizzying orchestral-influenced work that delves into female mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, often through the prism of different women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with raw honesty elsewhere—is shot skyward on this record, buoyed by the lush sound of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning composer within a vast roll call of collaborators. The pure ambition by itself makes the efforts of other artists seem rather modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking feels nearly a miracle, and complete credit going to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to fuse historical sounds and the present, the ambitions feel much higher on Lux, with the balancing act more pronounced. The element that truly elevates her fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core sense of joy. Similar to the legendary Björk at her height, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she's tearing your heart apart, the listener still desire to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth clearly on the stirring Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several minutes. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes in like cartoonish force. The song immediately segues into the wild track driven by racing strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album lies in you never exactly understand—nor wish to know—where it is going to next."
Almost each song concludes at a completely different place than how it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work begins off dark and sinister, with prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to smooth the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art & Pop
Another crucial achievement of Lux involves straddling the line between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is little surprise that the album has become the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy hits. One track sung primarily in the English language builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. This trick gets repeated by a different expansive ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews solipsism for glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its own inherent excess. This is a deep well of hidden gems that requires time to fully explore but doesn't seem like hard work. While other major pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, this record is a lavish banquet where the guests at the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter from discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about hopeless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
