At first glance, Lux may look more like a challenging academic examination rather than the latest pop project from a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Split into 4 distinct parts and sung in 13 languages, this is a dizzying symphonic opus that delves into female mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, often through the lens of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, buoyed by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within a vast roll call of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the work of other artists seem rather small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid dry academic chin-stroking feels nothing short of a miracle, and sole praise going to the artist. Although this is not her first project to fuse the past with the present, the ambitions feel far greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more pronounced. What truly raises her fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is a core sense of fun. Much like the iconic Björk at her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing your heart apart, you still desire to be right there through the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly during the stirring piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over several minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, and we hear a gleeful laugh and a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down with comedic force. The song then shifts to the frenetic single featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm of this album lies in the listener rarely quite know—nor wish to know—what you is going to next."
Almost every song ends in a totally distinct point than how it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame over a delicate symphony only to disintegrating in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts out moody and sinister, with menacing vocals, before sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir enter to soften its rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key achievement on the album involves straddling the gap between radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. This is no surprise that it has become her first work to break into the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song sung primarily in English swells around a refrain that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spirals upward. This feat gets repeated on a different expansive ballad that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its own built-in excess. It is a deep source of buried gems that takes patience to completely mine but never feels like hard work. While other major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the characters around the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
