On the surface, this album may look more like a difficult academic examination than the latest popular music record by a musician whose previous single featured an international K-pop icon. Divided into 4 different parts and voiced in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking symphonic work investigating female mystique, religious transcendence, and corporal transformation, often via the prism of various female saints. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, supported by the constant presence of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. The pure audacity alone makes the efforts of other pop stars appear quite small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album manages to escape dry academic posturing is nothing short of miraculous, with full credit belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time project to fuse the past and the present, its ambitions are far higher here, and the balancing act far more precarious. What truly elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. When she's breaking hearts in two, you nevertheless want to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during a stirring piano-led song about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls away, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle and a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes down with cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts into the wild single featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener rarely exactly know—or even want to predict—where it is going next."
Almost every track concludes at a totally different point than where it started. A track examines the transient trappings of celebrity with a delicate symphony before disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous trap-infused work begins out moody and sinister, with menacing vocals, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement of the album involves navigating the gap between bold experimentation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that the album has become her first release to break into the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable hits. One track sung primarily in English swells around a refrain that feels to collect more and more infectious melodies as it spirals upward. This feat is repeated on a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture impact of other breakup songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a grand scale, a hungry reach for high Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its own built-in excess. This is a deep well of hidden gems that takes patience to fully explore but doesn't seem like a chore. Where some big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record is a lavish feast where the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about hopeless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly creative visionary.
