On the surface, this album may look more like a difficult academic examination than a new pop album from a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided across 4 separate movements and sung in thirteen tongues, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced opus investigating female mystery, religious ascent, and physical change, frequently via the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched skyward here, supported by the constant sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring by itself renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear quite modest.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That this album manages to transcend dry academic posturing is almost a miracle, with full praise going to Rosalía. While this is not the first time project to fuse historical sounds and the present, the ambitions feel much higher here, and the balancing act more precarious. The element that truly raises her fourth album, beyond its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk at her peak, there is a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly on a stirring Italian song about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds in like comedic impact. The song immediately segues into the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The magic of this album is that you rarely quite understand—nor want to know—what it will go next."
Almost every track ends in a completely distinct place from where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her earlier rhythmic style begins off dark and brooding, with menacing vocals, before sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
Another crucial balancing act of Lux is navigating the gap of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is no coincidence that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to gather increasingly nagging hooks as it spins skyward. That trick gets repeated by a different expansive track that expands and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms via its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of other breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on smile, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption for glorious elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of hidden treasure that takes time to completely explore but doesn't seem like a chore. While other major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet at which the guests at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flit from discussions about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's truly restlessly creative visionary.
