On the surface, this album might appear more like an arduous academic quiz than a new popular music project by a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Broken across 4 distinct sections and sung in thirteen languages, this is a head-spinning symphonic work that delves into feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, frequently by way of the perspective of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is launched skyward on this record, buoyed by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure audacity by itself renders the efforts of other artists appear rather small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That Lux manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking feels nearly a miracle, with complete credit going to the artist. While it's not the first time project to fuse historical sounds with modern styles, the ambitions feel much greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that truly raises her fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Much like the legendary artist at her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, the listener still want to stay right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth clearly on a stunning piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four moments. Suddenly, everything drops silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds down with comedic impact. The song then segues to the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The charm of this album is that the listener never exactly understand—nor want to know—where it is going next."
Nearly each track ends in a totally different place than where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of fame over a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous rhythmic style starts out dark and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Of Art and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on the album involves straddling the line between bold innovation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has become her highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in English swells around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious hooks while it spins upward. That trick gets repeated by a different powerful track that expands and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture impact of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album is pop on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of hidden gems that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. While other big releases of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the guests around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about historical saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.
