At first glance, this album might appear closer to an arduous scholarly challenge than a new popular music album by a musician who just had a previous single featured an international pop icon. Split across four distinct sections and sung in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, often through the perspective of various women saints. The end of a relationship—a topic handled with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, carried by the constant sound of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning composer within a vast list of collaborators. The pure audacity alone renders the efforts of other artists appear quite small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux manages to escape overly intellectual posturing feels nearly a miracle, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to fuse historical sounds with modern styles, its stakes feel far greater on Lux, and the balancing act more precarious. What truly raises this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she is tearing your heart apart, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led song about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, and we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a comment before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes in like cartoonish impact. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux lies in you never exactly understand—nor wish to know—where it is going next."
Nearly each track finishes in a completely different point from where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing into digital chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins off dark and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, before sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften its jagged edges.
The Balance Of Experiment and Pop
A key balancing act of Lux involves navigating the line between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first release to crack the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in English builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly nagging melodies as it spirals skyward. That feat is echoed on a different powerful track that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. This is an abundant well of buried treasure that requires time to completely mine but never feels like a chore. Where other major releases of 2025 felt like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the guests around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most restlessly inventive visionary.
