At first glance, this album could seem closer to a difficult academic quiz than a new popular music project from a musician whose last hit featured a global pop star. Split into four distinct movements and voiced in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced album exploring female mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily change, often by way of the lens of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward here, buoyed by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself renders the work of other pop stars seem rather modest.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, with full credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not the first time album to alchemize the past and modern styles, its stakes are much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts in two, you still want to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful spirit comes forth brightly on the stunning piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over several minutes. Suddenly, everything drops silent, and there's a gleeful laugh followed by a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string surge thuds down with cartoonish force. The track then shifts to the wild track featuring racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux is that you rarely exactly know—or even wish to know—where you will go next."
Almost every track finishes at a totally distinct place than how it began. A track examines the fleeting trappings of fame with a delicate symphony only to collapsing in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic work starts off dark and brooding, with prowling beats, until sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Between Art & Pop
A key balancing act on the album is navigating the gap of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in English builds around a chorus that seems to gather more and more infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. This trick is repeated on a different powerful track that grows and contracts, weaving layered tunes like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a grand level, an ambitious grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. It is an abundant source of buried gems that takes patience to completely mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a sumptuous feast at which the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flutter between conversations about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
