🔗 Share this article

At first glance, Lux may look more like a challenging scholarly quiz rather than the latest pop record from an artist who just had a previous hit featured an international K-pop star. Divided into 4 distinct parts and performed in thirteen languages, it is a dizzying classical-tinged album that delves into female mystery, religious ascent, and bodily change, frequently by way of the lens of various saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is launched heavenward here, supported by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists appear rather small.

Transcending Scholarly Exercise

The fact that this album succeeds in transcend dry intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, with full credit going to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to fuse the past with modern styles, the ambitions feel far greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more precarious. What truly elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is a core spirit of playfulness. Much like the iconic artist at her height, there is a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener up in its tornado. When she's breaking your heart apart, the listener nevertheless desire to be alongside her through the ride.

A Signature Example of Exuberance

That exuberant spirit shines brightly during the stunning Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for several moments. Suddenly, everything drops away, and we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top string crescendo thuds in with comedic force. The track immediately segues to the wild single featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.

"The magic of this album lies in you never quite understand—or even want to predict—where you will go next."

Almost every track concludes at a totally distinct place from where it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration only to disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her earlier rhythmic work starts off dark and sinister, with prowling beats, until sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth the song's rough edges.

The Bridge Of Art & Pop

Another crucial achievement of the album involves straddling the line between bold experimentation and mainstream appeal. This is no surprise that it has become the artist's first work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. A song sung entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that feels to collect increasingly nagging melodies as it spins upward. That feat gets repeated on another expansive ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate tapestry.

• A dance-infused song charms with its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
• In its words, it aligns with pop culture honesty of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
• Across the album, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."

An Opulent Banquet for the Ears

Lux represents popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for high Art in an era of impending artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its built-in excess. It is an abundant source of buried gems that requires patience to fully explore but never feels like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous feast at which the guests around it, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flutter between conversations about historical saints, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless partners. It is a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly creative visionary.