At first glance, this album may look closer to a challenging scholarly quiz than a new popular music project by a musician who just had a last single featured an international K-pop icon. Broken across four distinct movements and performed in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystery, religious ascent, and physical transformation, frequently via the lens of different female saints. The end of a romance—a topic handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards here, supported by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the work of contemporary artists appear rather laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That this album manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking is almost miraculous, with complete credit going to the artist. While it's not the first time project to alchemize historical sounds with the present, its scale feel far greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is a core sense of fun. Much like the legendary artist at her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its tornado. When she's breaking your heart in two, the listener still desire to stay right there through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful energy shines brightly during a stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, everything falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes down like comedic impact. The song immediately shifts to the frenetic track driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with Lux lies in the listener never quite understand—or even wish to know—where you is going next."
Almost each song ends in a totally distinct place from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of fame over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Another, a song echoing her previous rhythmic work begins out dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement of the album is straddling the gap of radical innovation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that it has achieved her highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed entirely in English swells on a chorus that seems to collect increasingly nagging melodies as it spins upward. This feat is repeated by a different powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture impact of other heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a painted-on smile, like a storybook character hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux is pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of impending artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried treasure that requires time to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While some major pop albums of 2025 felt like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the characters at the table, some tipsy on holy drink, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
