At first glance, Lux could seem more like a challenging academic quiz than a new popular music project by a musician whose last single featured an international K-pop star. Split across four separate sections and performed in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged work exploring feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and bodily change, frequently by way of the prism of various women saints. The end of a romance—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is shot heavenward here, buoyed by the constant presence of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning composer within an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure audacity by itself makes the work of other artists look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing feels almost a miracle, and full credit going to the artist. Although it's not the first time album to blend historical sounds and the present, its ambitions are far greater here, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. What truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is a core spirit of joy. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you up in its tornado. When she is tearing hearts apart, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there for the ride.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during a stirring Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for several minutes. Then, everything drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge thuds in like cartoonish impact. The track then segues to the frenetic track featuring racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that you rarely quite know—or even wish to know—where it will go to next."
Nearly each track ends in a completely distinct point than where it started. A track examines the transient trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous rhythmic work starts out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album involves navigating the gap between radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is little surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English builds on a refrain that seems to gather more and more infectious hooks while it spirals skyward. That trick is repeated by a different powerful track that expands and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a painted-on smile, like a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried gems that requires patience to completely explore but doesn't feels like a chore. Where some big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record offers a lavish feast at which the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on holy drink, flit between discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
