At first glance, this work might appear more like a difficult academic quiz than a new popular music record from a musician whose previous hit featured a global pop star. Divided into 4 different sections and performed in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work exploring female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, frequently through the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched upwards here, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition alone renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite small.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That this album manages to avoid dry academic chin-stroking is almost a miracle, and full praise going to the artist. Although it's not her first project to alchemize the past with the present, the ambitions are much higher here, and the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really raises her fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. Even when she is tearing hearts apart, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit shines clearly on the stirring Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string surge crashes down like comedic impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild track featuring galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist herself.
"The charm with Lux is that the listener rarely exactly understand—or even want to predict—where it is going to next."
Almost every track finishes in a totally distinct place from how it started. One moment examines the transient nature of celebrity with a delicate symphony before disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous rhythmic style starts off moody and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act on Lux is navigating the gap between radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a collection of truly undeniable hits. One track sung primarily in English builds on a chorus that feels to collect increasingly nagging melodies while it spins upward. That trick gets repeated on another powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving multiple tunes like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song charms via its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares with cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting an ex- lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux is pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high artistry in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews solipsism for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its built-in excess. This is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes time to completely explore but doesn't seem like hard work. Where some big releases of 2025 seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on holy drink, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
