At first glance, this work may look more like a challenging academic quiz than the latest popular music record from an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Broken across four separate sections and sung in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged album that delves into female mystique, religious transcendence, and corporal transformation, often through the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. Its sheer ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem rather laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking feels nothing short of a miracle, with complete praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to blend historical sounds with the present, its ambitions are much higher here, with the balancing act more dramatic. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the legendary artist at her height, there is a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing your heart apart, the listener nevertheless want to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit shines brightly during a stunning Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a declaration before a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.
"The charm with this album lies in you never exactly understand—nor wish to know—where it is going to next."
Nearly every song concludes in a totally different point from how it began. A track explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Another, a song that recalls the artist's previous trap-infused style begins out moody and brooding, with menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth its jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art and Pop
A key achievement on the album involves straddling the gap of bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's first release to break into the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable hits. One track sung primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spirals upward. That trick is echoed on a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural impact of other breakup songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, akin to a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art amid of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden treasure that requires patience to fully mine but never seem like hard work. Where other major releases of 2025 felt like a meager meal, this record is a lavish feast where the characters at it, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly creative visionary.
