Initially, Lux could seem more like an arduous academic challenge rather than the latest pop record from a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Broken across four different parts and sung in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work exploring female mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily change, often via the prism of various women saints. The end of a romance—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot skyward here, buoyed by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. Its sheer audacity alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists look quite laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in transcend dry intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of a miracle, and complete credit going to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time album to fuse historical sounds and the present, its stakes are much higher on Lux, with the balancing act far more dramatic. The element that really elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core sense of joy. Much like the iconic Björk during her peak, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts in two, you nevertheless want to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful energy shines clearly during a stirring Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues to the wild single driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux is that you rarely exactly understand—nor want to know—what it is going to next."
Nearly each track ends at a completely different place than where it started. One moment explores the transient nature of fame with a delicate symphony only to collapsing into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous rhythmic work starts out moody and sinister, with prowling vocals, until fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Art and Pop
A key achievement of the album is straddling the line of radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is no coincidence that it has become her first release to crack the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a collection of truly catchy hits. One track performed entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that feels to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. That feat is repeated by another powerful track that grows and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the cultural impact of other heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album is pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of buried gems that takes patience to fully mine but never seem like a chore. Where other big pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record offers a lavish feast at which the guests around it, some intoxicated on sacred drink, flit between discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.
