Initially, this work might appear more like an arduous university challenge than a new popular music project from an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split into 4 distinct movements and voiced in 13 languages, we have a dizzying symphonic opus exploring feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, frequently via the perspective of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is shot upwards on this record, supported by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within a vast list of collaborators. The pure ambition alone renders the work of other pop stars look quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape dry academic posturing feels nearly miraculous, with complete praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to blend the past and the present, the stakes are far greater here, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. What really raises this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk during her height, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener into its tornado. When she's tearing your heart apart, the listener still desire to be alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
This exuberant energy shines brightly during a stirring piano-led ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over several minutes. Then, everything falls away, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down like cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues into the wild track driven by racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with Lux is that the listener never exactly understand—or even wish to know—where you will go to next."
Almost every track ends in a totally different place from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting nature of fame over a delicate symphony only to collapsing into electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work starts out moody and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art and Pop
A key achievement of Lux is straddling the gap between radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is little surprise that the album has become the artist's highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track sung primarily in English builds around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies as it spirals upward. This trick is echoed by a different expansive track that expands and contracts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns with pop culture impact of other breakup anthems, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the singing carry a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux represents pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its built-in excess. It is a deep source of buried gems that takes time to fully explore but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other big releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a lavish feast where the characters at the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter from discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about useless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative visionary.
