At first glance, this work may look closer to a difficult scholarly examination rather than the latest popular music project by an artist who just had a last hit featured an international pop icon. Split into four separate movements and voiced in 13 languages, we have a dizzying symphonic album that delves into feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and bodily change, often via the prism of various saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched heavenward here, buoyed by the lush presence of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a long list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity alone makes the efforts of other pop stars look rather small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, and complete praise going to the artist. Although this is not her first project to alchemize the past with modern styles, its ambitions feel far higher here, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing hearts apart, you still desire to stay right there for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful spirit comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls away, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge thuds in like comedic impact. The track then segues to the wild track featuring racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic with Lux is that you rarely exactly understand—nor want to know—what you will go to next."
Almost each song ends at a totally different place from how it started. A track examines the fleeting trappings of fame over a featherlight symphony before collapsing into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic style starts off dark and sinister, featuring menacing vocals, before sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic choir arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key achievement on Lux involves navigating the gap of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is little surprise that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that seems to gather increasingly nagging melodies as it spins upward. That trick gets repeated on a different expansive track that expands and constricts, weaving layered melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- lover labeled an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for high Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its inherent excess. This is an abundant well of buried treasure that requires time to fully mine but doesn't feels like a chore. Where some major releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux is a sumptuous banquet at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flit between discussions about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
