On the surface, this work might appear more like an arduous university examination rather than a new pop record from an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Divided into 4 different parts and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a dizzying symphonic album investigating feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, frequently by way of the lens of various female saints. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with raw honesty elsewhere—is shot skyward here, carried by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a long roll call of collaborators. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the efforts of other pop stars look rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that this album manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, with complete praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to fuse historical sounds with the present, its scale feel far greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more precarious. What really raises her fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, proves to be a core spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk at her peak, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener up in its tornado. When she's breaking hearts in two, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This playful energy comes forth brightly during the stirring Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Then, everything drops silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes down with cartoonish impact. The song then shifts into the frenetic single driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The magic of Lux is that you never exactly know—nor want to know—where it is going next."
Almost every track finishes in a totally different place than where it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony before disintegrating in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her previous trap-infused style starts off moody and sinister, with prowling beats, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
A key achievement on the album is straddling the line between radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. It is little coincidence that it has achieved her first work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy hits. One track performed primarily in the English language swells on a refrain that feels to collect increasingly nagging melodies as it spirals upward. This feat gets repeated by a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former partner labeled an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that takes time to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major releases of 2025 felt like feasting on meal, this record offers a sumptuous feast at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter from conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.
