At first glance, Lux might appear closer to a challenging university examination than the latest popular music record from an artist who just had a previous single featured a global K-pop icon. Broken into four separate sections and performed in 13 tongues, we have a dizzying classical-tinged work exploring feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, often by way of the prism of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards on this record, supported by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within a long roll call of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself renders the work of other artists appear quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to escape dry intellectual posturing is nothing short of a miracle, with sole praise belonging to the artist. While it's not her first album to alchemize the past and modern styles, the stakes feel much higher here, and the balancing act more dramatic. The element that really elevates her fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic Björk at her peak, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts in two, you still desire to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
That playful spirit comes forth clearly on the stunning piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops away, and we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated string surge crashes down like comedic force. The song then segues to the wild single featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The charm of Lux lies in the listener rarely exactly know—or even wish to know—what you will go next."
Almost every track ends at a completely distinct place from where it began. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony before collapsing in electronic chaos. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work begins out dark and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften the song's rough corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key achievement of Lux involves navigating the gap of bold experimentation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. One track sung primarily in English builds around a chorus that seems to gather increasingly infectious hooks while it spins upward. That trick is repeated on another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms via its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. This is a deep source of buried gems that takes time to fully mine but never seem like a chore. While other big pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flutter from discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly creative visionary.
