Initially, this work could seem more like a challenging scholarly quiz than a new popular music record by a musician who just had a previous single featured a global pop star. Divided across four distinct sections and performed in 13 languages, this is a dizzying symphonic opus that delves into female mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, frequently via the prism of different saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—soars heavenward here, supported by the lush sound of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among a vast roll call of collaborators. The pure audacity alone makes the work of contemporary pop stars look rather small.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux succeeds in transcend overly intellectual posturing is nearly a miracle, with sole credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to alchemize the past and modern styles, its ambitions are far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk more precarious. What truly raises this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is a core spirit of playfulness. Much like the legendary artist during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she is breaking your heart apart, the listener still desire to stay right there through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful energy shines brightly during a stunning piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops away, and there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated string crescendo thuds in with cartoonish force. The song then shifts to the wild single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The magic with this album lies in you rarely quite understand—or even want to know—what it will go next."
Almost each song ends in a totally distinct point than where it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame with a delicate orchestration before collapsing into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous trap-infused style begins off dark and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, until fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Balance Between Art & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of Lux is navigating the line between radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that it has become her first work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy hits. One track sung entirely in English swells on a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spirals upward. That feat is echoed by another powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried treasure that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't feels like a chore. Where some major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet where the characters at it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between discussions about historical saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's truly endlessly creative visionary.
