On the surface, this work may look more like a difficult academic examination rather than the latest popular music project from an artist who just had a last single featured a global K-pop star. Split into four distinct parts and voiced in thirteen languages, we have a dizzying classical-tinged work investigating feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and physical transformation, often via the prism of various women saints. The end of a romance—a topic handled with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards here, supported by the constant sound of a full orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among a long roll call of collaborators. The pure daring alone makes the work of other pop stars look rather small.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
That Lux manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, with sole praise going to Rosalía. Although it's not her first album to fuse the past and modern styles, the ambitions feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more pronounced. What truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Much like the iconic Björk during her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener into its tornado. Even when she is tearing hearts apart, the listener still desire to be alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That playful spirit shines clearly during a stirring piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over several moments. Then, all the music drops away, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a comically exaggerated string crescendo crashes down with cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts into the wild single driven by racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that the listener rarely quite understand—or even want to predict—what it will go to next."
Nearly each track concludes at a totally different place than how it started. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity over a delicate symphony only to disintegrating in digital cacophony. Another, a cut echoing her previous rhythmic work starts off dark and sinister, with menacing vocals, until fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften its jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art and Pop
A key balancing act on Lux involves navigating the line of bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first work to break into the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed entirely in English builds around a chorus that seems to collect increasingly nagging melodies while it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed by a different expansive track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns with pop culture impact of other breakup songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully explore but doesn't seem like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux is a sumptuous banquet where the characters around the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flit from conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly creative visionary.
