🔗 Share this article

On the surface, Lux might appear more like a challenging scholarly challenge rather than the latest pop project from a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop star. Divided into 4 different parts and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and bodily transformation, often through the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, buoyed by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within a vast roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the work of contemporary artists seem quite small.

Rising Above Academic Pretense

That Lux manages to avoid dry academic posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, with complete praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to blend the past and the present, its scale are far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk more precarious. What truly elevates her fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary artist at her height, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts in two, the listener still want to be alongside her through the ride.

A Prime Example of Joy

That playful spirit shines clearly during the stunning piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four moments. Then, all the music falls silent, and we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes in like comedic impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild single featuring racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.

"The charm of Lux lies in you never exactly know—or even wish to know—what it is going next."

Almost every song ends at a completely different point from where it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame with a delicate symphony only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous rhythmic style starts off dark and brooding, with menacing vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's rough corners.

The Bridge Between Art & Pop

Another crucial balancing act on the album involves navigating the line of bold experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is little coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first release to break into the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy hits. A song performed primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that seems to collect more and more infectious melodies while it spirals skyward. This trick is repeated by another expansive track that grows and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as an intricate tapestry.

• A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
• In its words, it shares with cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
• Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of letdown."

A Maximalist Feast for the Soul

Lux is popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry amid of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep well of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, some intoxicated on sacred drink, flutter from discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly creative visionary.