At first glance, this work may look closer to an arduous scholarly examination rather than the latest popular music project from an artist who just had a previous hit featured a global pop icon. Split across 4 different parts and sung in thirteen languages, it is a breathtaking classical-tinged work investigating female mystique, spiritual ascent, and physical change, frequently via the perspective of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot upwards here, supported by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer among an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure ambition alone renders the work of contemporary artists look quite small.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in escape dry academic chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, and sole credit going to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time album to fuse the past with the present, the scale are much greater here, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. What truly raises this fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, is a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk during her height, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. When she's breaking your heart apart, you nevertheless want to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit shines brightly on the stirring piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops away, and we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes down like comedic force. The track then shifts to the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic with this album lies in you rarely quite understand—or even want to predict—where you will go to next."
Nearly every song ends at a completely distinct place than where it started. One moment explores the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony only to collapsing into electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic work starts off moody and sinister, with menacing beats, until fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir enter to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Balance Between Art & Pop
A key achievement on the album is straddling the line of bold innovation and mainstream appeal. This is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's first work to crack the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed primarily in English builds around a refrain that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies as it spins upward. That feat gets echoed on another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, weaving layered melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a sharp edge, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a grand level, a hungry reach for high Art in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism for glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried treasure that requires time to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. While other big pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet where the characters at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter from conversations about ancient saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most endlessly creative visionary.
