Initially, this album might appear more like a difficult university examination than the latest popular music album by an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Split across 4 different movements and voiced in thirteen languages, this is a breathtaking orchestral-influenced album exploring feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, frequently via the prism of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars heavenward here, buoyed by the lush sound of a major orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists look quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That this album manages to avoid dry intellectual chin-stroking feels nothing short of a miracle, and sole praise belonging to the artist. While it's not her first project to alchemize historical sounds and modern styles, the stakes are far greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential spirit of joy. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, you still desire to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This exuberant energy shines clearly during the stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops away, and there's a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in like cartoonish force. The song immediately shifts to the wild track driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux lies in the listener never quite understand—nor wish to predict—where it is going next."
Almost every song finishes at a completely distinct place from how it began. A track examines the transient trappings of fame over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating in digital cacophony. Another, a song echoing her previous rhythmic work begins off moody and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement on the album involves straddling the gap between bold experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has achieved her first release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a collection of truly catchy pop songs. A song performed entirely in English swells on a chorus that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies while it spirals skyward. That trick is repeated on a different expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture honesty of other breakup anthems, eviscerating a former partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux represents pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of impending artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its own built-in excess. It is a deep source of buried gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other big pop albums of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record is a lavish feast where the characters at it, some tipsy on sacred drink, flutter from discussions about ancient figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.
