Initially, this work may look closer to an arduous academic examination rather than the latest pop project by an artist whose last single featured an international K-pop star. Divided across 4 different movements and performed in 13 languages, this is a dizzying classical-tinged album that delves into female mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, frequently by way of the perspective of different female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, buoyed by the constant presence of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars look rather small.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
That Lux manages to transcend dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, with complete credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not the first time album to fuse the past and modern styles, its scale are much greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more pronounced. The element that truly raises this fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is a core spirit of joy. Much like the legendary artist at her height, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts in two, you nevertheless want to be alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit shines brightly during the stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, everything falls silent, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album is that you never exactly understand—or even wish to know—what you is going to next."
Almost each song concludes in a totally distinct point from how it started. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration before collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly choir enter to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act on the album involves straddling the line between radical experimentation and broad appeal. This is no surprise that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English swells on a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spins upward. This trick is echoed by a different powerful track that expands and constricts, intertwining multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the singing have a sharp smile, like a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes time to fully mine but never feels like hard work. Where some big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, this record is a lavish banquet at which the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter from discussions about historical saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
