On the surface, Lux might appear more like an arduous university challenge than a new pop record by a musician whose last hit featured an international K-pop icon. Broken across four distinct movements and performed in 13 tongues, this is a head-spinning symphonic album exploring feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, often by way of the lens of various female saints. The end of a love affair—a theme handled with raw honesty elsewhere—is shot heavenward here, buoyed by the constant presence of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning composer within an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure daring by itself makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux succeeds in transcend dry intellectual posturing feels nearly a miracle, with full praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first project to alchemize the past with the present, the scale feel much greater here, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that really raises her fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary artist at her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its tornado. When she's tearing hearts in two, the listener still want to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly on the stirring Italian song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over several moments. Then, all the music falls away, and we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge crashes down with cartoonish force. The song immediately segues to the frenetic track featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that you rarely quite understand—or even want to predict—what it is going to next."
Almost each song finishes at a completely different place than where it began. One moment examines the fleeting trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier trap-infused style begins off dark and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act of the album is straddling the line of radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that it has become her first work to crack the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in English builds around a chorus that feels to collect increasingly infectious melodies while it spirals upward. This trick is echoed on another powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a storybook character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep well of buried gems that requires patience to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While other big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the characters around the table, some intoxicated on sacred drink, flit from discussions about historical saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from pop's most restlessly inventive visionary.
