At first glance, this work could seem more like a difficult scholarly challenge rather than a new pop project from an artist who just had a last hit featured a global pop icon. Broken across four separate parts and performed in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning symphonic album exploring feminine mystique, religious ascent, and corporal change, often through the perspective of different saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists appear quite small.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that this album manages to transcend dry intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, with sole credit belonging to Rosalía. While this is not the first time album to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, its scale are much greater here, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. The element that truly raises this fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, you still desire to be alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful spirit comes forth clearly during the stunning Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four minutes. Then, everything falls away, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes in with cartoonish force. The track immediately segues to the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener rarely exactly understand—nor wish to know—where it will go to next."
Almost each track finishes at a totally different point than how it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame over a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her previous trap-infused work begins off moody and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act on Lux is navigating the line between radical experimentation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that it has achieved her first work to crack the upper reaches of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spirals upward. This feat is repeated by a different powerful ballad that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / 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 artistry in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its own inherent excess. This is a deep well of hidden treasure that requires patience to fully mine but never seem like hard work. Where some major releases of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record offers a sumptuous feast where the guests at it, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flutter from conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
