At first glance, Lux could seem more like an arduous university examination rather than the latest pop album from a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Broken into four separate movements and sung in 13 languages, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced opus investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal change, frequently through the prism of different women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with raw openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, supported by the lush sound of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure daring by itself makes the work of other artists seem rather laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
The fact that this album manages to escape dry intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, and full praise going to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to fuse the past and the present, its scale are much higher on Lux, and the balancing act more precarious. What truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Similar to the iconic artist at her peak, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, you still want to be alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
That playful energy comes forth brightly on a stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over several moments. Suddenly, all the music falls away, and there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge thuds in with comedic force. The song then shifts into the wild single featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The charm of this album lies in you never quite understand—or even want to know—what you will go to next."
Almost every song finishes at a completely distinct place from how it started. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight symphony before disintegrating into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins off dark and sinister, featuring menacing vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Accessibility
A key achievement of Lux is straddling the line between radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that the album has become the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. One track sung primarily in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to collect more and more nagging melodies as it spirals upward. That feat gets repeated by another expansive track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a grand scale, a hungry reach for high Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that takes patience to completely mine but never seem like a chore. While some major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast at which the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on holy drink, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
