At first glance, this album may look more like a challenging university quiz than the latest pop album by a musician whose last hit featured a global pop icon. Divided across 4 different movements and performed in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced opus that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and bodily transformation, frequently via the lens of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched skyward here, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within a long roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring by itself renders the work of other artists look rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to transcend overly academic posturing feels almost a miracle, and complete credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not the first time project to blend historical sounds with the present, its ambitions feel much higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that truly raises this fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be a core sense of joy. Similar to the legendary artist at her height, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts in two, the listener nevertheless want to be alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That playful energy shines brightly during a stunning piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over several minutes. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes down like cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild track driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The charm of this album is that you rarely exactly know—nor want to know—where it is going next."
Almost every track finishes in a completely distinct point from how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony only to collapsing in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts out moody and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir enter to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Art & Accessibility
A key achievement on the album involves navigating the line between radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a refrain that seems to collect more and more infectious melodies while it spins upward. That trick gets repeated on a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares with cultural impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents pop on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for high artistry amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism for glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried gems that requires patience to fully explore but never feels like hard work. While other major releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the guests around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit between discussions about ancient figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly inventive visionary.
