At first glance, Lux could seem more like a difficult university examination rather than a new popular music album by a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Split into 4 distinct movements and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning symphonic work investigating female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, frequently by way of the prism of different female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards here, carried by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars appear rather small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, with sole praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to alchemize the past with modern styles, the ambitions feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. The element that really elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she is tearing hearts apart, you still desire to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit shines clearly on a stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string surge crashes down like cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues to the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that you never quite understand—or even wish to know—where you will go next."
Almost every track finishes in a totally different place from where it started. One moment examines the fleeting trappings of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style begins off moody and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of the album is straddling the line of bold innovation and mainstream appeal. It is no coincidence that it has become her first work to crack the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in English swells around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious hooks as it spins upward. This feat is repeated on another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with cultural honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the singing have a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for high artistry in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its built-in excess. This is an abundant source of hidden treasure that requires patience to fully explore but never seem like a chore. While some major releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the characters around the table, some intoxicated on sacred drink, flutter from discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and common stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most endlessly inventive visionary.
