At first glance, this album may look closer to an arduous scholarly quiz than a new popular music project from an artist who just had a previous hit featured an international pop star. Broken across four separate movements and sung in thirteen tongues, it is a head-spinning classical-tinged work investigating feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and corporal change, often through the lens of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot skyward here, carried by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast roll call of contributors. The pure audacity by itself renders the efforts of contemporary artists look quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in transcend overly academic posturing is nothing short of a miracle, and sole praise belonging to Rosalía. While this is not her first album to fuse historical sounds and the present, its stakes feel far greater here, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. What really elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be a core sense of fun. Similar to the legendary artist during her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. Even when she is breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly on a stunning Italian song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over several minutes. Then, all the music drops away, and there's a gleeful laugh and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge thuds down like cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues to the frenetic single featuring galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with Lux lies in the listener rarely exactly understand—nor wish to predict—what you is going next."
Almost each track ends at a totally distinct point than where it began. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing into digital chaos. Another, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off dark and brooding, with prowling beats, until fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Between Art & Pop
A key achievement of Lux involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and broad appeal. It is no surprise that it has achieved her highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable hits. A song performed primarily in English swells on a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks while it spins skyward. That feat is echoed on another expansive ballad that expands and constricts, weaving layered tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried gems that takes patience to fully explore but never feels like a chore. Where other big releases of the year felt like a meager meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the guests at it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter from discussions about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and common stories about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most endlessly creative visionary.
