🔗 Share this article

Initially, this album might appear more like a challenging scholarly quiz rather than the latest popular music album from an artist whose previous single featured a global pop icon. Divided into four separate movements and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a breathtaking classical-tinged opus investigating female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, often via the perspective of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, buoyed by the constant presence of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of collaborators. Its sheer audacity by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars appear quite laughable.

Rising Above Scholarly Pretense

That Lux succeeds in escape dry intellectual posturing is nearly miraculous, and complete praise belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time project to blend the past with the present, its ambitions feel much higher on Lux, with the balancing act far more pronounced. The element that really elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. When she's tearing hearts apart, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there for the ride.

A Prime Moment of Exuberance

This playful spirit comes forth brightly during the stirring piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four moments. Then, all the music drops silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle and a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down like cartoonish force. The song then shifts to the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from the artist herself.

"The magic with this album is that you never exactly know—nor wish to predict—what you is going next."

Nearly every song concludes at a completely distinct point from how it started. One moment explores the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate symphony before collapsing in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused work begins off moody and sinister, with prowling beats, until fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth the song's rough corners.

The Balance Between Art & Pop

A key achievement of the album involves navigating the gap of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song sung entirely in English swells on a chorus that seems to collect more and more infectious hooks while it spins upward. That trick is repeated on another expansive track that grows and constricts, weaving layered tunes like an intricate tapestry.

• A dance-infused number seduces via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
• In its words, it aligns with pop culture impact of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
• Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a sharp smile, like a storybook character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."

A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears

This album is popular music on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that requires time to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major pop albums of 2025 seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous feast where the guests at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flit from discussions about ancient figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about hopeless partners. It is a modern-day musical from pop's truly endlessly creative practitioner.