Initially, this work could seem more like a difficult scholarly examination than a new popular music record from an artist whose previous single featured an international K-pop star. Divided into four different movements and sung in thirteen languages, this is a head-spinning classical-tinged opus investigating female mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily change, frequently through the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with raw honesty elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars look quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
That Lux succeeds in transcend dry academic chin-stroking is almost miraculous, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to alchemize the past and the present, the stakes feel far higher here, with the tightrope walk more precarious. What really elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential sense of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's breaking your heart in two, the listener still want to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This playful energy comes forth clearly on a stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, all the music falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes in with cartoonish force. The song immediately shifts to the frenetic single featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The magic with Lux is that you never exactly know—or even wish to predict—where it will go to next."
Nearly each track concludes at a totally different place than where it started. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused style begins out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, before sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften its jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Pop
A key achievement on the album is navigating the line between bold innovation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable hits. One track sung primarily in English swells around a refrain that seems to gather more and more infectious hooks as it spins upward. That feat gets repeated by a different expansive ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms with its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, like a storybook character hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that requires patience to fully mine but never seem like a chore. While other major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast at which the guests around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative visionary.
