On the surface, this work could seem more like a difficult scholarly challenge than the latest popular music project from an artist who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Split across 4 different movements and performed in 13 languages, it is a head-spinning classical-tinged opus that delves into feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, frequently via the prism of different female saints. The end of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards here, buoyed by the constant presence of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the work of other artists appear rather modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in escape dry academic chin-stroking feels nothing short of miraculous, with full credit going to Rosalía. While this is not the first time album to alchemize the past and the present, the ambitions are far greater on Lux, with the balancing act more pronounced. What truly raises this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich compositions, and inherent drama, is a core sense of joy. Much like the iconic Björk at her height, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart in two, you still desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
That playful energy comes forth clearly during a stirring Italian song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over several moments. Suddenly, everything falls silent, and there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album is that you rarely quite know—or even wish to predict—where you is going to next."
Nearly each track ends in a completely different point than where it started. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony before collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic style starts off dark and sinister, with prowling vocals, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act of the album involves navigating the line of radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that the album has become her first release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spins upward. This trick gets echoed on another expansive track that expands and contracts, weaving multiple tunes like a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture impact of other breakup songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing carry a sharp edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for high Art amid of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its inherent excess. It is a deep source of hidden gems that requires time to fully mine but never seem like a chore. While other major releases of 2025 felt like a meager meal, this record offers a lavish banquet at which the characters around it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative visionary.
