At first glance, this album could seem more like a challenging scholarly examination than a new popular music project by a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with a global pop star. Broken across four different sections and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a breathtaking classical-tinged album exploring female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, frequently via the perspective of various women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—soars skyward here, buoyed by the lush sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a long roll call of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself makes the efforts of other artists seem quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
That this album succeeds in avoid dry intellectual posturing is almost a miracle, and complete credit going to the artist. While this is not her first album to alchemize the past and modern styles, the ambitions feel much higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. What really elevates this fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
That exuberant energy shines clearly on the stirring Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls away, and there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes in with cartoonish force. The track then segues to the wild single featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic with Lux is that the listener never exactly understand—or even wish to predict—where you will go next."
Almost each song ends in a totally distinct place from how it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of fame over a delicate symphony before disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts out dark and brooding, featuring menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir enter to smooth its rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key achievement on Lux is navigating the gap of radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is no surprise that it has achieved her highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that seems to collect increasingly nagging melodies while it spins skyward. That trick is repeated on a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms via its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux is pop on a grand level, a hungry reach for high Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its built-in excess. This is a deep well of buried gems that requires time to fully explore but doesn't feels like a chore. Where some big pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the characters at it, perhaps tipsy on holy drink, flutter between discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
