🔗 Share this article

On the surface, this album may look closer to a difficult university challenge than a new pop record from a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken across 4 different movements and voiced in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic opus investigating feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and physical transformation, often through the lens of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, carried by the constant presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear rather laughable.

Rising Above Scholarly Exercise

The fact that Lux manages to escape dry intellectual posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, and sole praise belonging to the artist. Although this is not her first project to blend historical sounds with modern styles, its stakes are much higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. What truly raises this fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary artist at her height, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts apart, you still desire to be right there through the ride.

A Prime Moment of Joy

This exuberant energy shines brightly on a stirring Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, and we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes down with cartoonish impact. The song then segues into the wild track driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.

"The charm with Lux is that you rarely quite understand—or even wish to predict—what you is going to next."

Almost every song finishes in a totally distinct point than how it began. A track examines the transient nature of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her previous rhythmic work starts off dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its rough edges.

The Bridge Of Art & Accessibility

A key achievement of Lux is straddling the gap of radical experimentation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in the English language builds around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies while it spirals skyward. This trick is echoed on a different powerful ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex weave.

• A waltz-like song charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
• Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
• Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."

An Opulent Feast for the Soul

Lux is pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried gems that requires patience to fully mine but never seem like a chore. Where some big pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager meal, this record is a lavish feast where the guests at the table, some tipsy on sacred drink, flutter from conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.