At first glance, this album may look closer to a difficult scholarly quiz than a new popular music record from an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop star. Broken into 4 separate movements and voiced in 13 tongues, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged opus exploring feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, frequently by way of the lens of different female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars upwards on this record, supported by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity alone makes the work of other artists appear rather small.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that this album manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, with sole praise going to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time project to blend historical sounds with modern styles, its stakes are much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that truly raises this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic Björk at her peak, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she's tearing your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That playful spirit comes forth clearly on a stirring Italian ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, and there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo thuds in with comedic force. The track then shifts to the wild single driven by galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.
"The charm with this album is that you never exactly know—nor wish to know—what it will go next."
Almost each track ends at a totally different place than where it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous trap-infused style starts out dark and brooding, with menacing beats, until fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften its rough corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act on the album is navigating the gap between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is little coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy hits. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging melodies as it spins skyward. That feat gets repeated on another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural honesty of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for high artistry amid of impending artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its inherent excess. This is a deep well of buried gems that takes patience to fully explore but doesn't seem like hard work. Where some big releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the guests at it, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about useless partners. It is a modern-day musical from pop's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
