At first glance, this album may look more like a difficult scholarly quiz rather than a new popular music project by a musician whose last single was a collaboration with an international K-pop star. Divided into four different movements and performed in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged opus exploring female mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, often via the lens of different women saints. The end of a love affair—a theme handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, supported by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure ambition alone makes the efforts of other artists appear quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to escape dry academic posturing is almost miraculous, and sole praise belonging to the artist. While this is not the first time album to alchemize the past with modern styles, its scale are far greater here, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that truly elevates her fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Much like the legendary Björk during her height, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, you nevertheless want to stay right there through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful energy shines brightly during the stirring Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Then, everything falls silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge thuds in with comedic impact. The track then segues into the frenetic single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The magic of Lux lies in you never exactly know—nor want to predict—what you is going next."
Almost each track finishes in a totally different place from how it began. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Another, a cut echoing her earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and brooding, with menacing vocals, until sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement on Lux involves straddling the line between bold innovation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song performed entirely in the English language swells around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly nagging melodies as it spins upward. That feat gets echoed by a different expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns with cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is pop on a grand level, a hungry reach for high Art amid of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its built-in excess. This is a deep source of hidden treasure that requires patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like a chore. Where some big releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet where the characters around it, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
