On the surface, Lux could seem closer to a challenging scholarly quiz than the latest popular music project from a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Split across four different sections and sung in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced album exploring feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and physical change, often by way of the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—soars skyward on this record, buoyed by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is nearly miraculous, and sole praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to alchemize historical sounds with the present, the scale feel far higher here, with the balancing act more pronounced. What really raises this fourth album, beyond its complex melodies, rich compositions, and inherent drama, is a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, there is a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart in two, the listener nevertheless want to be alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines brightly on a stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Then, all the music falls away, and there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down like cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues into the wild single driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic with Lux is that you never quite understand—nor wish to predict—what you is going to next."
Almost each song concludes at a completely different point from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting nature of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating into digital chaos. Another, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style begins out moody and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, until fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Between Art and Pop
A key achievement of the album involves navigating the line of radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is little surprise that the album has achieved her highest-charting release to crack the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song performed entirely in the English language swells around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies as it spins upward. That trick is repeated on a different expansive ballad that expands and constricts, weaving layered melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms via its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns with cultural honesty of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
Lux is pop on a grand scale, a hungry reach for high Art in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep well of hidden treasure that requires time to fully explore but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other major releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests around it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
