On the surface, this work may look more like a challenging university challenge rather than a new popular music album from an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Split across 4 different parts and performed in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced work that delves into female mystery, religious transcendence, and corporal change, frequently through the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards here, carried by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive list of collaborators. The pure ambition by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars look rather modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in transcend dry academic posturing is almost a miracle, and sole credit going to Rosalía. While it's not the first time project to fuse the past and the present, the stakes feel much higher here, and the tightrope walk more precarious. What truly raises this fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is a core spirit of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless want to be alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
That playful energy shines clearly during a stunning piano-led song about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, and there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge thuds down like comedic impact. The track then shifts into the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux is that you never quite know—nor want to know—what you is going to next."
Almost every song finishes at a totally distinct point from where it started. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of fame over a delicate symphony only to collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts out dark and brooding, with menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on Lux is navigating the line of bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that the album has become the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English builds around a chorus that feels to gather more and more nagging hooks while it spirals upward. That feat gets repeated by a different powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for high Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep well of hidden treasure that requires time to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While some major releases of 2025 seemed like a meager scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at the table, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from music's most restlessly creative practitioner.
