At first glance, this work might appear more like a difficult university quiz than a new popular music album by an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Split across four distinct movements and performed in 13 tongues, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work exploring female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and bodily change, often by way of the lens of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—soars heavenward on this record, supported by the lush sound of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within a vast roll call of collaborators. Its sheer audacity alone renders the work of other artists seem rather modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in transcend overly academic chin-stroking feels nearly miraculous, and sole praise belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time album to fuse the past with the present, its stakes feel much greater here, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that truly elevates her fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary artist during her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's breaking your heart apart, you nevertheless want to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly on the stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over several minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops away, and we hear a gleeful laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge crashes in like cartoonish impact. The track then segues to the frenetic track driven by galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm with Lux lies in the listener never quite understand—or even want to predict—where it will go next."
Nearly each track concludes at a totally distinct place from where it started. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her earlier trap-infused work starts off dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of Lux involves navigating the line between radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is little surprise that the album has become her first release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in English builds on a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging melodies as it spirals upward. This feat is echoed by a different powerful ballad that grows and constricts, weaving layered tunes like a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting an ex- lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its built-in excess. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that requires time to fully explore but never feels like a chore. Where other major releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet at which the characters at it, some tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most restlessly creative visionary.
