At first glance, this album might appear closer to an arduous academic challenge than the latest popular music record from an artist who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global pop star. Broken into four different parts and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a head-spinning symphonic album investigating female mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, frequently via the lens of various saintly figures. The end of a romance—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer among a long list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite modest.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid overly intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, with sole praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time album to fuse historical sounds with the present, the ambitions feel much greater here, and the tightrope walk more precarious. What really elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is an essential sense of joy. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking hearts apart, the listener still want to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stirring Italian song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Then, all the music falls silent, and there's a gleeful giggle and a comment prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral surge thuds in with comedic impact. The song then shifts to the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener rarely quite know—or even want to predict—what it is going to next."
Nearly every song finishes in a completely distinct point than how it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work starts off moody and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, until sudden traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to soften its jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement of the album is straddling the gap of radical experimentation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that the album has achieved her highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable hits. One track sung entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spins skyward. That trick gets repeated by another powerful ballad that grows and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural honesty of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album represents pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for high artistry in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its own inherent excess. It is an abundant well of hidden treasure that requires time to fully mine but never feels like hard work. Where other big pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager meal, Lux is a lavish banquet where the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter from discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.
