🔗 Share this article

At first glance, this album may look more like a challenging scholarly examination than a new popular music record from a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Broken across 4 different parts and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying orchestral-influenced opus that delves into feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily transformation, often by way of the prism of different women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme treated with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a vast list of contributors. Its sheer daring alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite laughable.

Transcending Scholarly Pretense

That this album succeeds in avoid overly intellectual posturing is nothing short of a miracle, and complete credit going to the artist. While this is not her first project to alchemize historical sounds and the present, the ambitions feel far greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more pronounced. What really raises her fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, dense compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk during her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there through the ride.

A Prime Example of Joy

That playful spirit comes forth clearly during the stirring piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything drops silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down with cartoonish force. The song then shifts to the frenetic single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.

"The charm with Lux lies in the listener never exactly know—or even want to predict—where it will go to next."

Nearly each song concludes at a totally distinct place from how it started. A track examines the transient trappings of fame over a featherlight orchestration before collapsing in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous rhythmic work starts out moody and brooding, with prowling vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften the song's rough corners.

The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility

Another crucial balancing act of the album is straddling the line of bold innovation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that the album has achieved her highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable hits. A song sung primarily in English builds on a refrain that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spins skyward. That trick is repeated on a different powerful track that expands and constricts, weaving layered tunes as an intricate weave.

• A dance-infused number charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
• In its words, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "psychological bully".
• Throughout the album, the singing carry a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."

An Opulent Banquet for the Ears

This album represents popular music on a grand level, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its inherent excess. This is a deep source of buried gems that takes patience to fully explore but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the characters around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter from conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.