At first glance, this album might appear closer to a difficult university quiz than the latest pop project by a musician whose last single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Broken into four different parts and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a breathtaking orchestral-influenced album exploring female mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, often through the perspective of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—is shot skyward here, buoyed by the constant sound of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the work of other pop stars appear quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in escape dry academic posturing is nearly a miracle, and sole praise belonging to the artist. While this is not the first time album to fuse historical sounds with the present, the scale feel far higher here, and the balancing act far more dramatic. The element that really raises her fourth release, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic Björk at her peak, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts in two, the listener still want to stay right there for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
That playful energy comes forth brightly on the stunning piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment prior to a comically exaggerated string crescendo thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately segues to the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The charm of this album is that the listener never quite know—or even wish to predict—what it is going to next."
Nearly every song concludes in a totally distinct place from where it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating in electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls her previous rhythmic style starts off moody and brooding, with menacing beats, until sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement of the album is straddling the line between bold experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that it has become the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies as it spins upward. This feat gets echoed by a different expansive ballad that expands and constricts, weaving multiple melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for high artistry in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that requires time to completely mine but doesn't feels like hard work. Where some big releases of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux is a sumptuous banquet where the characters around the table, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flit between conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
