At first glance, Lux could seem more like a challenging academic quiz rather than a new popular music project from a musician whose previous hit featured an international K-pop icon. Broken into 4 separate sections and sung in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album investigating feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and corporal change, frequently via the prism of various women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded openness elsewhere—is shot upwards on this record, carried by the lush sound of a full orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast list of collaborators. The pure daring by itself makes the work of contemporary artists appear quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to escape overly academic posturing is nothing short of miraculous, with full credit going to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time album to blend the past and modern styles, the scale feel much greater here, with the tightrope walk more precarious. What truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be a core sense of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk at her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its whirlwind. Even when she is breaking hearts apart, you still want to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines clearly on a stirring Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four minutes. Suddenly, everything falls silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down like comedic force. The track then segues into the wild single featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The magic of this album is that the listener rarely exactly understand—or even want to know—what you will go next."
Almost each song concludes at a totally different place from where it started. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of fame over a featherlight symphony before collapsing into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic style begins out dark and sinister, featuring prowling beats, before sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften its rough corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of Lux is navigating the line between bold experimentation and broad appeal. This is no coincidence that it has become her highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language swells on a refrain that feels to collect increasingly infectious hooks as it spins skyward. This feat gets echoed by another powerful ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns with cultural honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover labeled an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the singing carry a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album is pop on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism for glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep source of hidden treasure that requires patience to completely explore but never seem like a chore. Where some big releases of 2025 seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet at which the characters at it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
