At first glance, this album could seem more like a difficult academic challenge than a new popular music album by an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Split across four distinct sections and performed in thirteen languages, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged opus that delves into feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently via the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot upwards on this record, supported by the lush sound of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer among a vast roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in transcend dry academic chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, with full credit going to the artist. While it's not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and the present, its scale feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that truly raises her fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, dense compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be a core sense of fun. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she is tearing hearts in two, the listener nevertheless want to be alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This playful spirit comes forth clearly on a stunning Italian song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for several moments. Then, all the music falls away, and we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes down with cartoonish force. The track then segues to the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The magic of this album is that you rarely quite know—or even want to predict—what it will go to next."
Almost every track ends in a totally distinct place from where it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a delicate symphony only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work begins out moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to soften the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Experiment & Pop
A key achievement on Lux is navigating the gap of radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is little coincidence that it has become her highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung entirely in English builds around a refrain that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spins skyward. That feat gets repeated on another powerful ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares with cultural honesty of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting an ex- lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, like a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for high artistry in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that takes time to fully explore but never seem like a chore. Where other big releases of 2025 felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a lavish feast where the characters at it, some intoxicated on holy wine, flit between discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
