At first glance, Lux might appear closer to an arduous university challenge than a new pop record by a musician whose previous single featured an international K-pop icon. Split into four different movements and sung in thirteen languages, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged work exploring female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, often via the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning composer among a long list of contributors. Its sheer ambition by itself makes the efforts of other artists look quite modest.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to escape overly academic posturing is nothing short of a miracle, and complete credit going to the artist. While this is not the first time album to blend historical sounds with modern styles, its ambitions feel far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really raises her fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is an essential sense of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she is tearing hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This playful energy shines brightly during a stirring piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for several minutes. Then, all the music drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes in with comedic impact. The track then segues into the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm of this album is that you never quite understand—nor want to predict—what it is going next."
Nearly each song ends in a completely different point from where it started. A track examines the fleeting trappings of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic work starts off moody and brooding, featuring prowling beats, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften its jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement on Lux is straddling the gap of radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. This is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung entirely in English swells on a refrain that feels to gather more and more infectious hooks while it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed by a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple tunes like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its inherent excess. It is a deep source of buried gems that takes patience to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. Where other big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux is a sumptuous banquet where the guests around the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flit from discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.
