At first glance, Lux may look closer to a difficult academic challenge than the latest popular music record from a musician whose previous hit featured an international pop icon. Split into four distinct movements and sung in thirteen languages, this is a head-spinning classical-tinged work investigating female mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, frequently through the prism of different female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—soars upwards on this record, carried by the constant presence of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a long list of contributors. The pure audacity by itself renders the efforts of contemporary artists seem rather modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that this album manages to avoid overly intellectual posturing feels almost a miracle, with full praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time album to alchemize historical sounds and modern styles, the scale are much greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that truly raises this fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, rich compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk at her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she is breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to be right there through the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during the stunning Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over several moments. Then, everything drops away, and there's a gleeful laugh and a comment prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds down with cartoonish force. The song immediately segues to the frenetic single featuring racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album is that you never quite know—or even want to predict—what you will go to next."
Almost every song concludes in a totally distinct place than where it began. One moment examines the transient nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic work starts off dark and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic choir arrive to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
Another crucial balancing act of the album is straddling the gap of bold innovation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that it has become her first release to crack the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung primarily in English builds on a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious hooks while it spirals upward. That trick gets echoed on another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in excess. It is a deep well of buried treasure that takes time to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While other major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux is a lavish feast at which the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
