🔗 Share this article

On the surface, this album might appear more like an arduous university quiz than a new pop record from an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Broken into four different sections and voiced in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking symphonic album that delves into female mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily change, often via the perspective of various women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—soars skyward on this record, supported by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within a vast list of contributors. The pure audacity by itself makes the work of other pop stars appear rather modest.

Transcending Scholarly Exercise

That Lux manages to escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, and sole praise belonging to the artist. While it's not her first album to blend historical sounds and modern styles, its ambitions feel much greater on Lux, and the balancing act more pronounced. What truly raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she is breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be alongside her for the ride.

A Prime Example of Joy

That playful spirit comes forth clearly during the stirring piano-led ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops away, and there's a spontaneous giggle and a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge thuds down like comedic impact. The track then segues into the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.

"The charm with this album lies in you never exactly know—nor wish to predict—what it is going to next."

Almost every song concludes in a completely distinct place than how it began. One moment examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony before collapsing into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's previous rhythmic style starts out dark and brooding, with prowling beats, until fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic choir enter to smooth its rough edges.

The Balance Between Experiment and Accessibility

A key achievement of the album is straddling the line of bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. It is little coincidence that it has achieved her highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a collection of utterly catchy hits. A song sung entirely in English swells on a chorus that seems to gather increasingly infectious hooks as it spins skyward. That feat gets echoed by a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies as a complex weave.

• A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
• In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
• Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp edge, like a storybook character concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."

A Maximalist Feast for the Soul

This album represents popular music on a grand level, a hungry reach for high artistry amid of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of buried treasure that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred drink, flutter between discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a contemporary musical from pop's truly endlessly creative practitioner.