On the surface, this album may look closer to an arduous university challenge rather than a new popular music project from a musician who just had a last hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Broken into 4 different movements and voiced in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily change, often via the lens of different female saints. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is shot heavenward on this record, carried by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of contributors. The pure daring by itself makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to avoid overly academic posturing is almost a miracle, with complete credit going to the artist. While this is not the first time album to fuse the past with modern styles, the stakes are much greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more pronounced. What truly raises her fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Similar to the iconic Björk during her peak, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. When she's tearing your heart in two, the listener still want to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant energy shines clearly during the stirring Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle and a comment prior to a comically exaggerated string crescendo crashes in with comedic force. The song then segues into the frenetic single driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.
"The charm of Lux lies in the listener never exactly know—or even want to know—what it is going to next."
Nearly every song finishes at a completely distinct point from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity over a delicate symphony only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Another, a cut echoing her previous trap-infused style begins off moody and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, until fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to soften its rough corners.
The Bridge Of Art & Pop
A key achievement of Lux is straddling the gap between radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved her first release to crack the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track performed entirely in English builds on a chorus that seems to gather increasingly nagging melodies as it spins skyward. This feat gets repeated by a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving layered tunes like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural impact of other heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep source of hidden treasure that requires time to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet at which the guests at it, some tipsy on holy drink, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a modern-day musical from pop's most restlessly creative practitioner.
