Initially, this work may look closer to an arduous scholarly challenge than a new popular music project from a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Split across four distinct parts and sung in thirteen tongues, we have a dizzying symphonic opus exploring feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and bodily transformation, frequently through the prism of various female saints. The end of a love affair—a theme treated with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched upwards here, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a long roll call of contributors. The pure audacity alone makes the work of other pop stars seem rather modest.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in avoid overly academic chin-stroking is nothing short of a miracle, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first project to blend the past with the present, its stakes feel far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that truly elevates her fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you up in its tornado. When she is breaking your heart apart, you still want to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That playful spirit shines brightly on the stunning piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Then, all the music falls silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle followed by a declaration before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts into the frenetic single featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with this album is that you rarely exactly know—nor want to know—where you will go to next."
Almost each track finishes in a completely distinct point from where it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous trap-infused work begins off moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Bridge Of Art and Pop
A key achievement on Lux is straddling the gap between bold innovation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has become the artist's highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy hits. A song sung entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that seems to collect more and more infectious hooks while it spirals upward. This trick is echoed on a different expansive ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its own inherent excess. It is a deep well of hidden gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other big releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred drink, flutter from discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.
