On the surface, this album may look more like an arduous academic examination than a new popular music album by a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken across 4 distinct sections and sung in thirteen tongues, this is a breathtaking classical-tinged work investigating female mystique, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently by way of the prism of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot heavenward here, supported by the lush presence of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast list of contributors. The pure audacity alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear quite small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to transcend dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, with complete credit going to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time album to blend the past and modern styles, its stakes are far greater on Lux, with the balancing act far more precarious. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist at her peak, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking hearts apart, you still want to stay right there through the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during the stirring piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds in like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic of Lux lies in the listener rarely quite know—or even want to predict—where it will go next."
Nearly every song finishes at a totally different point than where it began. One moment explores the transient nature of fame with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and sinister, featuring menacing vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on the album is straddling the gap of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that it has become the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in English swells on a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spins upward. This trick gets echoed by a different powerful track that expands and contracts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for high artistry in an era of impending artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in excess. This is an abundant well of buried treasure that takes time to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While some major releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a lavish feast at which the guests around it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit from conversations about ancient figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.
