Initially, this album could seem more like a challenging university quiz than a new popular music album by an artist who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop star. Broken across 4 separate sections and voiced in 13 languages, this is a head-spinning symphonic opus exploring female mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, frequently by way of the prism of different women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward here, supported by the constant presence of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a long list of contributors. The pure daring by itself renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem rather modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
That Lux manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing is nothing short of miraculous, with full praise belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time project to blend historical sounds and modern styles, its stakes feel much higher on Lux, with the balancing act more dramatic. What really raises this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Much like the legendary Björk during her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts in two, the listener still desire to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful energy comes forth brightly during the stunning Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds in like comedic impact. The song immediately shifts into the wild single featuring galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that the listener never quite know—nor want to predict—what it will go to next."
Almost every song finishes in a totally different place than where it started. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony before collapsing into digital chaos. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts off dark and sinister, with prowling vocals, before sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
Another crucial balancing act of Lux is straddling the gap between bold innovation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that it has become the artist's highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable hits. A song performed primarily in English builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. That feat is echoed on another expansive ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry amid of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its own inherent excess. This is an abundant source of hidden gems that requires time to fully mine but never feels like a chore. While other major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast where the characters at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and common stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
