At first glance, this album could seem closer to a difficult university examination than the latest pop album from an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Split into four different sections and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying symphonic album exploring female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, often by way of the lens of different female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot heavenward on this record, supported by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among an extensive list of contributors. The pure daring by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars look quite modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, and sole credit going to the artist. While it's not her first album to fuse historical sounds and the present, its stakes feel far greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of joy. Much like the iconic artist during her height, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful energy shines brightly during the stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over several moments. Then, everything falls silent, and there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge thuds in like comedic force. The track then segues into the frenetic track driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.
"The magic of Lux is that the listener rarely exactly know—or even wish to predict—where it is going next."
Nearly each song ends in a totally distinct place than where it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic work begins out moody and sinister, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic choir arrive to soften its jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Art and Pop
A key achievement of the album involves straddling the gap of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is little surprise that it has become the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable hits. One track sung primarily in English swells on a refrain that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spirals upward. That feat gets echoed on a different powerful ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes like an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused song charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with cultural honesty of other heartbreak songs, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a sharp edge, like a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for high artistry amid of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried gems that takes patience to completely mine but doesn't feels like a chore. While some major pop albums of 2025 felt like feasting on meal, this record offers a lavish banquet where the guests at it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's most restlessly creative practitioner.
