At first glance, this album may look closer to a challenging academic challenge than the latest pop project from an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided into 4 different parts and sung in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work investigating female mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, often via the lens of various women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme treated with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, supported by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone makes the work of other artists seem quite modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album manages to avoid overly academic chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, with full praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to alchemize the past and modern styles, its ambitions feel far greater here, with the tightrope walk more pronounced. What really raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is a core spirit of joy. Similar to the legendary artist at her height, there is a wondrous sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. When she is breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless want to stay right there through the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
This playful spirit comes forth brightly on the stirring Italian song about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in like comedic impact. The song immediately segues into the wild single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic of Lux is that the listener rarely quite understand—nor want to know—what it will go next."
Nearly every song finishes in a completely different point than where it began. A track explores the transient trappings of fame over a delicate symphony before collapsing into electronic cacophony. Another, a song echoing the artist's previous trap-infused work begins off moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art & Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act on Lux involves straddling the line between radical innovation and broad appeal. This is no coincidence that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy hits. One track sung entirely in English builds around a refrain that feels to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spirals upward. That trick is echoed on another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving multiple tunes as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns the cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux is pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for high artistry amid of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism for sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of hidden gems that takes patience to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a lavish feast at which the guests around it, some intoxicated on sacred drink, flit from discussions about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.
