Initially, this album might appear more like a difficult university challenge rather than the latest pop record by an artist whose last single featured a global K-pop star. Split across 4 distinct parts and performed in thirteen languages, this is a breathtaking classical-tinged work that delves into female mystery, religious ascent, and physical transformation, often by way of the lens of different women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards on this record, carried by the constant sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within a long roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the work of contemporary artists appear rather small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that this album manages to escape overly academic chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, and complete praise going to Rosalía. Although it's not her first album to alchemize the past with the present, its stakes are far greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more pronounced. What really raises this fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, is a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its tornado. Even when she is tearing your heart in two, you still desire to be alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This exuberant spirit shines brightly during the stunning Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, everything drops silent, and there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic single featuring galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.
"The magic with this album is that the listener never exactly understand—or even wish to predict—what you will go next."
Almost every song concludes at a completely distinct place than where it began. One moment examines the fleeting trappings of celebrity over a delicate symphony before collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and brooding, with prowling beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on Lux is straddling the line of radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's first work to crack the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable hits. One track performed entirely in English builds around a chorus that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies as it spins skyward. That feat is repeated on a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary breakup anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its own inherent excess. This is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes patience to fully mine but never seem like hard work. While some big releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a lavish feast where the characters around the table, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit between conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.
