Initially, this album could seem closer to a challenging academic challenge rather than the latest popular music project from an artist whose previous hit featured a global pop icon. Split into four different movements and voiced in 13 tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged album that delves into female mystery, religious transcendence, and bodily change, often via the prism of various women saints. The end of a love affair—a theme treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward here, carried by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone makes the work of other pop stars seem quite small.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
That this album succeeds in avoid dry academic posturing is nearly miraculous, and sole praise going to the artist. While it's not the first time album to fuse historical sounds and the present, the ambitions feel far greater on Lux, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that truly raises her fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential sense of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk at her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she is tearing hearts apart, you still want to stay right there through the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant spirit shines clearly during the stirring Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for several moments. Then, all the music falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down with cartoonish force. The track then segues into the wild single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.
"The magic of this album is that the listener rarely exactly know—nor want to know—where you will go next."
Nearly every track ends at a totally distinct place from where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of fame with a featherlight orchestration only to disintegrating in digital cacophony. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins out dark and sinister, with menacing vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment & Pop
Another crucial achievement on the album involves navigating the line of radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in English swells on a refrain that seems to gather more and more infectious melodies as it spirals upward. This feat gets repeated by another expansive ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album represents pop on a grand level, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried gems that takes time to completely mine but doesn't seem like a chore. While some major releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a sumptuous feast where the guests at it, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter from discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.
