At first glance, this work might appear closer to a difficult university examination than a new pop project from a musician who just had a previous single featured a global pop star. Split across four different movements and sung in 13 tongues, we have a dizzying classical-tinged work that delves into feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and bodily change, frequently via the lens of different women saints. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards on this record, buoyed by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter within an extensive list of collaborators. The pure daring alone renders the efforts of other pop stars seem rather laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual posturing feels almost a miracle, with sole praise going to the artist. While it's not the first time album to blend the past with modern styles, the scale are much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is a core spirit of joy. Much like the iconic artist during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. When she is breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful energy shines brightly on the stirring piano-led song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four moments. Then, everything drops away, and there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes in with cartoonish force. The track then shifts to the frenetic single driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The magic with this album is that you never exactly understand—or even wish to know—what it will go next."
Almost every song ends in a completely distinct point than where it began. One moment explores the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony only to collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts out moody and sinister, with prowling beats, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Of Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act of the album involves navigating the gap between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track sung entirely in the English language builds around a refrain that feels to collect increasingly nagging melodies while it spins skyward. This feat gets echoed on another expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp edge, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its inherent excess. It is an abundant well of buried treasure that requires time to completely mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record is a lavish banquet at which the characters at the table, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flit between discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most restlessly creative practitioner.
