At first glance, this album may look closer to an arduous university examination than the latest pop record by an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop star. Split across four separate movements and sung in 13 tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged work exploring female mystique, religious transcendence, and corporal transformation, often by way of the lens of various women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, buoyed by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. Its sheer audacity alone renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars look rather modest.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking feels nearly miraculous, and complete credit going to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to alchemize the past and the present, the ambitions are far greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that really elevates her fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of joy. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls you into its tornado. When she is tearing hearts in two, you still want to stay right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy shines brightly on the stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral surge thuds in with cartoonish force. The song then segues to the wild single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album is that the listener rarely quite understand—or even wish to know—where you is going to next."
Nearly every track ends at a completely different point than where it started. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a delicate symphony only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her earlier trap-infused work begins out dark and brooding, featuring menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Between Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement on Lux involves straddling the line of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is little surprise that the album has become the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy hits. A song sung entirely in English builds on a refrain that seems to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spins upward. That feat is repeated on another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, weaving layered melodies as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, like a storybook character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album is pop on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for high artistry amid of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism for sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. It is a deep well of hidden treasure that requires patience to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record offers a lavish banquet at which the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flit from discussions about ancient saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about useless partners. It is a modern-day musical from music's truly endlessly creative visionary.
