On the surface, this album might appear closer to an arduous scholarly challenge than the latest pop record by an artist whose last hit featured an international pop star. Broken across four separate parts and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a head-spinning symphonic opus exploring female mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often by way of the perspective of various women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot heavenward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition alone renders the efforts of other artists seem quite small.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to escape overly academic chin-stroking is almost a miracle, and full credit belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to fuse historical sounds with modern styles, its ambitions feel far greater here, with the balancing act more precarious. What really elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential spirit of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps you into its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy shines brightly during the stirring Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, and we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the frenetic track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with this album is that you rarely exactly understand—nor wish to predict—where it is going to next."
Almost every track ends in a totally different point than where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration only to disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused work begins out dark and brooding, featuring menacing beats, until sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth its rough corners.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
A key achievement on the album involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung entirely in English swells on a refrain that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spins skyward. That feat gets echoed on a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture impact of other heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a grand level, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of impending artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its own inherent excess. This is an abundant well of buried gems that requires time to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While other big pop albums of 2025 felt like feasting on meal, Lux offers a lavish feast where the guests around the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.
