At first glance, this work might appear more like a difficult academic quiz rather than the latest pop project by a musician whose previous single was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Divided across 4 separate movements and performed in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced album exploring female mystery, religious transcendence, and physical transformation, often via the prism of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars upwards here, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a long roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone makes the work of other artists seem quite modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual posturing is nothing short of a miracle, with sole praise belonging to the artist. While it's not the first time album to blend the past with the present, the scale feel far greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. What really elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Much like the iconic Björk at her peak, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener up in its tornado. Even when she is tearing your heart in two, the listener still desire to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This playful spirit comes forth brightly during a stunning piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous giggle and a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo thuds in with comedic impact. The track immediately shifts into the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.
"The magic with this album lies in you never exactly understand—or even want to predict—where it will go next."
Almost every track concludes in a completely different point than where it began. A track explores the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony before disintegrating into electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic style begins off moody and sinister, with prowling beats, before sudden traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album involves navigating the line between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is little coincidence that it has become her first release to break into the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a collection of utterly catchy hits. A song performed entirely in English builds around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spins upward. That trick is repeated on a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving multiple tunes like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried gems that takes patience to completely mine but never seem like hard work. Where some major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record offers a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, some tipsy on holy drink, flit from discussions about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
