On the surface, this work could seem more like an arduous scholarly examination than a new popular music album from an artist who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global pop star. Broken across four separate parts and sung in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning symphonic work exploring female mystique, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently by way of the prism of various female saints. The end of a love affair—a topic treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched skyward on this record, supported by the constant presence of a full orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a long roll call of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to transcend dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, with sole praise belonging to the artist. Although this is not her first project to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, the ambitions feel much greater on Lux, and the balancing act more pronounced. What truly raises her fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the legendary artist at her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart apart, the listener still desire to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful spirit shines brightly during the stirring Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Suddenly, everything drops silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes down like cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts into the wild single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux lies in you never quite understand—nor want to know—where you is going to next."
Nearly each track ends in a totally distinct place than where it began. A track examines the transient trappings of fame over a featherlight orchestration before collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her earlier trap-infused work starts out moody and sinister, with menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Pop
A key balancing act on Lux involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that the album has achieved her first work to break into the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. One track sung entirely in the English language swells on a chorus that feels to gather increasingly infectious hooks as it spirals upward. This feat is repeated on a different powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms with its jaunty, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried treasure that takes patience to fully mine but never seem like a chore. While some big releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet where the characters at the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flit between discussions about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
