On the surface, this album may look closer to an arduous scholarly quiz than the latest popular music record by a musician who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split across four different parts and sung in thirteen tongues, this is a head-spinning classical-tinged opus investigating female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and bodily transformation, often by way of the perspective of different female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—soars heavenward here, supported by the lush presence of a full orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the efforts of other artists appear rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That this album manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing feels almost a miracle, and complete credit going to the artist. Although it's not the first time project to alchemize historical sounds with modern styles, its scale feel much greater on Lux, with the balancing act far more pronounced. What truly raises this fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk at her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she is breaking your heart apart, the listener nevertheless want to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several minutes. Suddenly, everything falls away, and we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo thuds down with comedic force. The song then segues to the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm of Lux lies in you rarely exactly know—or even wish to know—where you will go to next."
Almost each song ends at a completely different place than how it started. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame with a delicate symphony only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous rhythmic work begins off moody and sinister, featuring menacing vocals, before sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir enter to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
A key balancing act on Lux involves straddling the line of radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. This is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a suite of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in English swells around a chorus that feels to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. This trick is echoed on another powerful track that grows and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing have a sharp edge, akin to a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art amid of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried gems that takes time to completely mine but never seem like hard work. While some major pop albums of 2025 seemed like feasting on meal, this record offers a sumptuous banquet where the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flit from conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most restlessly creative practitioner.
