🔗 Share this article

On the surface, this album might appear closer to a challenging academic examination than the latest popular music record by an artist whose previous single featured a global K-pop icon. Split across four separate parts and performed in 13 languages, it is a head-spinning classical-tinged work exploring feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, often by way of the perspective of different saintly figures. The end of a romance—a theme treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward here, supported by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within an extensive list of collaborators. The pure daring by itself renders the work of other pop stars look rather laughable.

Transcending Scholarly Exercise

That this album succeeds in escape overly academic posturing is nearly a miracle, and complete praise belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to fuse the past with modern styles, its stakes are far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. What truly elevates her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core sense of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk at her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. When she is breaking hearts in two, you still want to stay alongside her through the ride.

A Signature Moment of Exuberance

That playful spirit shines brightly on a stunning piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four moments. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in with comedic force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.

"The charm of this album lies in the listener never exactly know—nor wish to know—what it is going to next."

Nearly every song ends in a completely different point from where it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating in electronic chaos. Another, a cut echoing her earlier rhythmic style starts off dark and sinister, with menacing vocals, until sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth the song's rough edges.

The Bridge Between Experiment and Pop

Another crucial balancing act on the album is navigating the gap of bold innovation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy hits. A song performed primarily in the English language builds on a refrain that seems to gather increasingly nagging melodies as it spins skyward. That feat gets repeated by a different powerful ballad that grows and constricts, weaving multiple melodies as an intricate tapestry.

• A waltz-like number seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
• Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
• Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."

A Maximalist Feast for the Ears

Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in excess. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. While other major releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet where the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter from conversations about ancient saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most restlessly creative practitioner.