On the surface, this album may look more like a difficult scholarly quiz than a new pop record from a musician who just had a last hit featured an international K-pop icon. Divided across 4 separate parts and sung in 13 languages, it is a head-spinning classical-tinged opus exploring feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, frequently through the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, carried by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself makes the work of contemporary artists appear quite laughable.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in transcend dry academic posturing is nearly a miracle, with full credit going to the artist. Although it's not the first time album to alchemize historical sounds and the present, the ambitions feel much greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that truly raises this fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is a core sense of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. Even when she is tearing hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to stay right there for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly on a stirring piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four moments. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle and a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the frenetic single driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm with this album is that the listener never quite understand—or even wish to know—what it will go next."
Nearly every track finishes in a completely different place from how it began. A track explores the transient trappings of fame over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into digital cacophony. Another, a song that recalls her earlier rhythmic work begins out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth its rough edges.
The Bridge Of Art & Accessibility
A key achievement of Lux is straddling the line between bold experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved her highest-charting release to crack the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to gather more and more nagging hooks while it spirals upward. This feat gets repeated by a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its inherent excess. This is a deep well of buried gems that takes patience to completely mine but never feels like a chore. While other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the characters at it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred drink, flutter from conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
