On the surface, this work may look more like a challenging academic examination rather than a new popular music record by an artist whose last hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split into 4 separate sections and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a head-spinning symphonic work that delves into feminine mystique, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, frequently via the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched skyward on this record, carried by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among a long list of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself makes the work of other pop stars appear quite small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to transcend overly academic chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, with full praise belonging to Rosalía. While this is not the first time album to blend the past with modern styles, its stakes feel much greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk more pronounced. The element that truly raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core spirit of joy. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart apart, you nevertheless want to be alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful spirit comes forth brightly on the stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four moments. Then, all the music drops silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down like comedic impact. The track then shifts to the frenetic track featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener never exactly understand—or even wish to predict—what you is going next."
Almost each track ends at a totally different place from how it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a featherlight symphony before disintegrating into digital cacophony. Another, a cut echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic work starts out moody and brooding, with prowling beats, before sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its jagged corners.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
A key achievement on Lux involves straddling the gap of radical innovation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that the album has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable hits. One track performed primarily in English swells on a chorus that seems to gather increasingly nagging hooks while it spirals skyward. This trick is echoed by a different expansive track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture impact of other breakup anthems, eviscerating a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for high Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant source of buried treasure that takes time to completely mine but doesn't feels like hard work. Where other major releases of 2025 felt like feasting on meal, this record is a lavish feast at which the characters around it, some tipsy on sacred drink, flit between discussions about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
