Initially, Lux might appear more like a challenging scholarly examination rather than the latest pop album from an artist who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Broken into four distinct parts and performed in thirteen languages, it is a head-spinning classical-tinged work exploring female mystery, religious ascent, and corporal change, frequently by way of the lens of various female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars upwards here, supported by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of collaborators. Its sheer ambition by itself makes the efforts of other pop stars appear quite small.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in avoid dry intellectual posturing is nearly miraculous, with full praise belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to fuse the past with the present, the stakes are much greater here, and the balancing act far more precarious. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist at her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she is tearing your heart apart, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly on the stunning Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes in like cartoonish force. The song immediately shifts to the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The magic with Lux lies in you rarely exactly understand—nor wish to predict—what you will go next."
Almost each song finishes in a totally different place than how it began. A track explores the fleeting trappings of fame over a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her earlier trap-infused style begins out moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
A key achievement on the album is straddling the line of radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is no surprise that it has become the artist's first work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging melodies as it spins skyward. That feat gets echoed by another powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux is pop on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its own built-in excess. This is a deep source of buried treasure that takes patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet at which the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter from conversations about ancient figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
