On the surface, Lux may look more like a challenging university examination than a new popular music album by an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided across 4 separate movements and sung in 13 languages, this is a head-spinning classical-tinged opus exploring female mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, often by way of the prism of various saintly figures. The end of a romance—a theme handled with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards here, carried by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within a long list of contributors. The pure audacity by itself renders the efforts of other artists appear quite modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to transcend overly intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, and full credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to blend the past and modern styles, the ambitions are far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that really elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained drama, is a core sense of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you into its tornado. When she is tearing your heart in two, the listener nevertheless want to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That playful energy shines brightly during the stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Then, everything drops silent, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge thuds in with comedic impact. The track then segues to the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm of this album lies in the listener never exactly understand—nor want to predict—what you will go to next."
Almost every track ends at a completely distinct place from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting nature of fame with a featherlight symphony before collapsing in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's previous trap-infused work starts out dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Between Art & Accessibility
A key achievement of the album involves straddling the line of radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is little coincidence that the album has achieved her first work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a chorus that seems to gather more and more nagging hooks as it spins upward. That feat is echoed by a different powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in excess. It is a deep source of hidden treasure that takes patience to completely explore but never feels like a chore. While some major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record is a sumptuous feast where the characters around the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and common stories about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
