On the surface, Lux might appear closer to a difficult academic challenge rather than a new popular music record by an artist who just had a previous single featured a global pop star. Split into four separate movements and performed in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged opus that delves into feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and bodily change, frequently via the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a theme treated with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards here, carried by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within a long roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone makes the efforts of other artists look rather small.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to avoid dry intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, and complete credit belonging to Rosalía. While this is not the first time album to alchemize the past and the present, its ambitions feel far greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more precarious. What truly raises this fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener into its tornado. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful energy shines clearly on a stunning piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, and we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge thuds down like cartoonish impact. The song then shifts into the wild single featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic with this album lies in you rarely exactly know—nor want to know—what you is going to next."
Nearly every track concludes in a completely different point than where it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work starts off moody and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to soften its jagged corners.
The Balance Of Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement of Lux is navigating the gap between radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has become the artist's first release to break into the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy hits. A song performed primarily in English swells around a refrain that feels to collect more and more infectious melodies while it spins skyward. This feat is repeated by another expansive track that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that requires time to fully explore but never feels like hard work. Where some big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish feast at which the guests around the table, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit from discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
