On the surface, Lux could seem more like an arduous scholarly challenge than the latest popular music album by a musician who just had a previous hit featured a global K-pop icon. Broken across four different parts and voiced in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged album investigating female mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, often by way of the perspective of various women saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, carried by the constant presence of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a long roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars appear rather laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid overly academic posturing is nothing short of miraculous, and complete credit going to the artist. Although it's not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and the present, its stakes are far higher here, and the tightrope walk far more precarious. What truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Much like the legendary artist during her height, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, the listener still want to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly on a stirring piano-led song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four minutes. Suddenly, everything drops away, and there's a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down with comedic force. The track immediately segues into the frenetic track featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic of this album lies in you rarely quite know—or even want to know—what you is going to next."
Nearly every song concludes at a totally distinct place than where it started. One moment explores the transient nature of fame with a delicate orchestration before collapsing into digital chaos. Another, a cut that recalls her earlier rhythmic work starts out moody and brooding, with prowling vocals, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art & Accessibility
A key achievement of Lux involves navigating the line between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that the album has become the artist's first release to break into the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed entirely in English swells around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies as it spirals upward. That feat is echoed by another powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting a former partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for high artistry in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. This is a deep well of hidden gems that requires patience to completely explore but doesn't feels like a chore. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, this record is a lavish banquet at which the guests at the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flit from conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
