Initially, this work may look closer to a challenging university examination rather than a new pop project from an artist who just had a last single featured an international K-pop icon. Split across four separate movements and voiced in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album exploring feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and physical change, often by way of the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme handled with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards here, buoyed by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast list of contributors. Its sheer audacity alone renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars look rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to avoid overly intellectual chin-stroking feels nothing short of miraculous, and full praise going to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to fuse the past with the present, its stakes are much greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really raises this fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of fun. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener into its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, the listener still desire to be alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This exuberant energy shines brightly on a stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, everything falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle and a declaration before a comically exaggerated string surge crashes down like comedic impact. The song immediately segues to the frenetic single featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist herself.
"The charm with Lux is that the listener never exactly understand—nor want to know—where you will go to next."
Almost every track finishes in a completely different place than where it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a delicate symphony only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her previous trap-infused work starts out moody and sinister, with menacing vocals, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to soften its jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act on the album is navigating the line between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. This is little coincidence that it has achieved her highest-charting release to crack the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung primarily in English swells on a refrain that feels to collect more and more nagging melodies as it spirals skyward. That feat is repeated by another expansive track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp edge, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its built-in excess. This is an abundant source of hidden treasure that takes time to completely mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major releases of 2025 seemed like feasting on meal, Lux offers a lavish feast where the guests around it, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about hopeless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
