Initially, Lux could seem closer to an arduous academic examination than a new popular music album from a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Split across four different parts and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a dizzying classical-tinged opus exploring female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, often by way of the lens of various women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, supported by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure audacity by itself makes the work of contemporary pop stars appear quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That Lux manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing is nearly a miracle, and full praise belonging to the artist. While this is not the first time project to alchemize the past and the present, the ambitions are much greater here, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. What truly elevates her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of joy. Much like the legendary artist during her peak, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener up in its tornado. When she's breaking hearts in two, you still desire to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down with cartoonish force. The track immediately segues into the wild track driven by racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with this album is that you rarely exactly know—or even want to predict—where it will go to next."
Nearly every track concludes in a totally different place from how it began. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in digital chaos. Another, a cut echoing her earlier rhythmic style begins out dark and sinister, with prowling vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic choir arrive to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act on Lux involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is little surprise that the album has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English swells on a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks while it spirals skyward. That feat gets repeated on a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, eviscerating a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing carry a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux is pop on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried gems that requires patience to completely mine but doesn't feels like a chore. Where other big releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
