At first glance, this album may look more like a difficult academic quiz than a new pop album from a musician whose last hit featured a global K-pop star. Broken into four distinct sections and performed in thirteen languages, this is a breathtaking symphonic work exploring feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, often by way of the prism of various women saints. The end of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded openness elsewhere—soars heavenward here, supported by the lush sound of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter within a long list of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone renders the work of contemporary pop stars look quite small.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to transcend overly intellectual chin-stroking feels nothing short of miraculous, with complete praise going to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time project to alchemize the past and the present, its ambitions feel far greater here, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary artist at her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its tornado. When she's tearing your heart apart, the listener still desire to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This playful spirit shines clearly during a stirring piano-led ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh and a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo thuds down like comedic force. The track then segues to the frenetic single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The magic with this album is that you never exactly understand—nor want to know—what you is going to next."
Nearly each track concludes in a completely distinct place from where it began. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity over a featherlight symphony before disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous rhythmic style starts out moody and brooding, with prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Of Experiment and Pop
A key achievement of the album involves navigating the gap between bold experimentation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that it has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable hits. One track sung primarily in English builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies as it spins skyward. That feat is echoed by a different powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving layered tunes like a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces with its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the cultural honesty of other breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on edge, akin to a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux is pop on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its inherent excess. It is a deep well of hidden gems that requires time to fully mine but never seem like a chore. Where some major releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet where the characters at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flit between conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common stories about hopeless men. It is a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
