On the surface, this work might appear closer to an arduous university challenge than the latest popular music record from a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Divided into 4 separate movements and sung in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic opus investigating female mystery, religious ascent, and corporal change, often via the prism of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is shot heavenward here, buoyed by the constant sound of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a long list of contributors. Its sheer audacity alone renders the work of contemporary artists appear rather modest.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album manages to transcend overly intellectual posturing is nothing short of miraculous, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not her first project to alchemize the past with the present, its ambitions feel far greater here, with the tightrope walk more precarious. What truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is a core spirit of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener into its tornado. When she's breaking hearts apart, the listener nevertheless want to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly during the stirring Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four moments. Then, all the music falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle and a declaration before a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes in like cartoonish impact. The song then segues to the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The magic of Lux is that you never exactly understand—or even want to know—where you is going to next."
Almost every song concludes at a completely distinct point from how it started. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame with a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Another, a cut echoing the artist's previous trap-infused work starts off dark and sinister, with prowling beats, until fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic choir arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Art and Pop
Another crucial balancing act on the album involves navigating the line of radical innovation and broad appeal. It is little surprise that the album has achieved the artist's first work to break into the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in English builds on a refrain that feels to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spirals skyward. That feat gets echoed by another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture honesty of other breakup songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album is pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art amid of impending artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that requires time to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. Where some major pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish feast where the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred drink, flit between conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
