Initially, Lux may look more like a difficult academic quiz than a new popular music record by a musician whose last single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken into 4 distinct sections and sung in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, frequently by way of the prism of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched skyward here, carried by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among an extensive list of contributors. The pure audacity alone renders the efforts of other pop stars seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual posturing feels almost a miracle, with sole credit going to Rosalía. While this is not her first album to alchemize the past with modern styles, its ambitions feel much higher here, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. What truly elevates her fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic artist at her peak, there is a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts in two, you still desire to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
That playful energy comes forth clearly on the stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Then, everything drops away, and there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a comically exaggerated string surge crashes down like cartoonish impact. The track then segues to the wild single featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux lies in you never exactly understand—or even want to predict—where you is going to next."
Nearly every song concludes in a completely different point than where it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous trap-infused style starts out dark and brooding, with prowling beats, before sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Of Art and Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act on Lux is navigating the line of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no surprise that it has achieved her first work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. A song performed primarily in English builds on a refrain that seems to collect more and more infectious melodies while it spirals upward. That trick is repeated on another powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of other breakup songs, lambasting an ex- lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a grand level, a hungry reach for high Art in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its inherent excess. This is an abundant source of buried gems that requires time to fully explore but never feels like hard work. Where other big releases of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the guests at it, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter between discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.