On the surface, this album might appear closer to a challenging university quiz rather than the latest popular music record from an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided into 4 separate parts and performed in 13 languages, this is a head-spinning classical-tinged opus investigating female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, frequently through the prism of various women saints. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward here, buoyed by the constant sound of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning composer among a vast roll call of contributors. The pure daring by itself renders the work of other pop stars look quite laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux manages to avoid dry intellectual posturing feels nearly miraculous, and sole praise going to the artist. While it's not the first time album to fuse the past and the present, its stakes are far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more precarious. What really elevates her fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk during her height, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts in two, you still desire to stay right there for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly during a stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over several minutes. Then, all the music falls away, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh and a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo thuds down with comedic force. The track then shifts to the wild track featuring racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The magic with this album lies in the listener rarely quite know—or even wish to know—what you will go next."
Nearly each song finishes at a completely distinct place than where it began. One moment examines the fleeting trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and brooding, featuring menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir arrive to soften its jagged edges.
The Balance Of Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement on the album involves navigating the line of bold experimentation and broad appeal. It is little surprise that it has become the artist's first work to break into the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung primarily in English swells on a refrain that seems to gather increasingly nagging hooks while it spins upward. That feat gets echoed by a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp edge, like a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album represents pop on a grand scale, a hungry reach for high Art in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism for sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep source of hidden gems that takes time to completely mine but never feels like hard work. Where some major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter from discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about useless partners. It is a contemporary musical from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
