Initially, this album could seem more like a challenging university examination than the latest popular music project by a musician who just had a last single featured an international K-pop star. Broken across 4 separate sections and sung in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged opus investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, often by way of the prism of different women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars upwards on this record, supported by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer among a long roll call of collaborators. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the work of contemporary artists seem rather modest.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
That Lux manages to avoid overly academic posturing feels almost miraculous, with sole credit going to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time project to blend the past and modern styles, the ambitions are far higher here, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that really elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent theatricality, is an essential sense of joy. Much like the legendary artist during her peak, there is a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless want to be right there through the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
That playful energy comes forth clearly on the stunning Italian song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for several moments. Then, all the music falls silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in like comedic force. The track then shifts to the wild track driven by galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux lies in the listener rarely exactly understand—nor wish to know—where you will go next."
Almost each track ends at a completely distinct place from where it started. A track explores the transient nature of celebrity over a featherlight symphony before disintegrating in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her earlier trap-infused work begins out dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, before fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth its jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act on Lux involves straddling the line between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. This is little coincidence that it has achieved her first release to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable hits. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that seems to gather more and more infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. This trick is repeated on a different expansive ballad that expands and constricts, weaving layered melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the singing have a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album is pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for high artistry in an era of impending artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism for sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. Where some big releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flit between conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.
