At first glance, Lux could seem more like an arduous scholarly challenge rather than the latest popular music record by a musician who just had a previous hit featured a global pop icon. Broken into four distinct parts and sung in thirteen languages, we have a dizzying classical-tinged opus exploring female mystique, religious transcendence, and corporal transformation, frequently by way of the prism of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched skyward on this record, carried by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a long roll call of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself renders the work of other pop stars seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to avoid dry academic chin-stroking is almost a miracle, with complete praise going to Rosalía. While this is not the first time album to blend the past and the present, its stakes feel far higher on Lux, and the balancing act more dramatic. The element that really raises this fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, the listener nevertheless desire to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful energy comes forth clearly on a stirring Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Then, everything drops away, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo crashes in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately segues into the wild track driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The magic of Lux is that you rarely quite know—or even want to know—where it is going next."
Nearly every song ends in a completely different point than where it started. A track explores the fleeting trappings of fame with a delicate symphony only to collapsing into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style begins out dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth its rough corners.
The Bridge Of Art & Pop
A key balancing act of Lux is navigating the line between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is no surprise that the album has become the artist's highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable hits. A song performed primarily in the English language swells around a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spirals upward. This feat gets echoed on a different expansive track that grows and contracts, weaving layered tunes as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux is pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism for glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. It is an abundant source of hidden treasure that takes time to fully explore but never feels like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish feast where the guests around it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit from discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly creative visionary.
