At first glance, this work might appear more like a challenging university examination than the latest popular music album by a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided across four distinct movements and performed in 13 tongues, it is a breathtaking classical-tinged album investigating female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and bodily transformation, frequently via the prism of different saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars upwards here, buoyed by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast list of contributors. The pure ambition alone renders the work of contemporary pop stars look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is nearly miraculous, with sole credit belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time project to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, the scale are much higher here, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that really elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core sense of fun. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener up in its tornado. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, the listener still desire to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on the stunning piano-led song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over several minutes. Then, all the music drops away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a comically exaggerated string crescendo thuds in with comedic force. The song then shifts to the frenetic single featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The charm of Lux is that you rarely exactly understand—nor want to predict—where it will go to next."
Almost every song finishes in a completely distinct point from how it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame over a featherlight symphony only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style begins out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act of Lux is straddling the gap between bold innovation and mainstream appeal. It is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's first work to break into the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a suite of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in the English language swells around a chorus that seems to gather more and more infectious hooks as it spirals upward. That trick gets echoed on another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple melodies as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried treasure that requires time to fully mine but doesn't feels like a chore. Where other big releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous banquet where the guests at the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred drink, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from music's most endlessly creative visionary.
