On the surface, Lux could seem closer to a difficult university quiz than a new popular music record from a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Divided into four different sections and sung in thirteen languages, we have a head-spinning symphonic opus that delves into female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal change, frequently by way of the lens of various women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot heavenward here, supported by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone makes the efforts of other pop stars seem rather modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album manages to escape overly academic posturing feels nearly miraculous, and complete praise going to the artist. While it's not the first time album to blend the past and the present, the stakes are far higher on Lux, and the balancing act far more precarious. The element that truly raises her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. When she is breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless want to stay right there for the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly during a stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything drops silent, and there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration before a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes down with cartoonish force. The song immediately segues into the wild single driven by racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with this album is that the listener never quite know—or even wish to know—what it is going next."
Almost each song finishes at a totally different place from where it started. One moment explores the transient nature of fame over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Another, a song that recalls her earlier rhythmic work starts off dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir enter to smooth its rough corners.
The Balance Between Art & Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album involves straddling the gap of radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. This is no surprise that it has achieved her highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a suite of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English builds on a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging melodies as it spirals skyward. That trick is echoed by a different powerful ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural honesty of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, like a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand level, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry amid of looming artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption for glorious elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried treasure that takes time to completely explore but doesn't feels like hard work. While other big releases of the year felt like a meager meal, this record offers a sumptuous feast at which the guests around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
