On the surface, Lux might appear closer to a difficult scholarly examination than a new popular music album from a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken across four different sections and performed in 13 languages, it is a dizzying classical-tinged album investigating feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, frequently through the perspective of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, carried by the constant sound of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
That this album manages to transcend dry intellectual chin-stroking feels nothing short of a miracle, and sole praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to alchemize historical sounds with the present, its scale feel much higher here, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that really elevates her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is a core spirit of joy. Much like the iconic Björk during her peak, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener up in its tornado. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, you still desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful spirit comes forth clearly during the stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over several moments. Suddenly, everything drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down with comedic impact. The song then shifts into the wild single featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm of Lux is that you rarely quite understand—nor wish to predict—where you will go next."
Almost each track concludes at a completely different point from how it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of fame over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her earlier rhythmic style starts off dark and sinister, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic choir enter to smooth the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Pop
Another crucial balancing act on Lux involves straddling the gap of bold innovation and mainstream appeal. This is little coincidence that it has become her highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track sung entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spins skyward. That feat gets echoed on a different powerful ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of other heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux is pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried gems that requires patience to completely mine but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other major releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous feast where the characters at the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
