At first glance, Lux could seem more like a challenging university quiz rather than a new pop album by a musician whose last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Broken across 4 separate movements and performed in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced opus that delves into female mystery, religious ascent, and bodily change, frequently through the lens of different women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter within an extensive list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone renders the efforts of other pop stars look quite small.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
That Lux manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking is almost miraculous, and full praise belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not her first project to alchemize the past with modern styles, its ambitions are far greater on Lux, with the balancing act more dramatic. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she's breaking your heart apart, you still want to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant energy shines brightly on the stirring Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over several moments. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a comment prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes down with comedic force. The track then shifts into the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic with Lux is that you never exactly understand—nor wish to predict—what you will go next."
Nearly every song concludes at a completely distinct point from where it began. One moment examines the transient nature of fame with a featherlight symphony before collapsing into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's previous rhythmic style starts off dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, until fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth its rough corners.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
Another crucial balancing act of the album is navigating the gap between bold innovation and broad appeal. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in the English language swells on a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. That trick is echoed by another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural impact of other breakup songs, lambasting a former lover labeled an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for high artistry amid of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried treasure that takes time to completely mine but never feels like hard work. Where other major releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly endlessly creative visionary.
