On the surface, this work may look more like a challenging scholarly examination rather than a new popular music project from a musician whose last single featured an international pop star. Split across four different movements and performed in thirteen languages, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced album exploring feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, often by way of the lens of various female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, supported by the constant sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That this album manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing feels nothing short of miraculous, with sole credit going to the artist. While this is not the first time project to blend the past with the present, the scale feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. The element that really elevates her fourth album, beyond its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she is breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That playful spirit comes forth clearly during a stunning Italian song about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four moments. Suddenly, everything drops silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes in like cartoonish impact. The song then shifts to the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic with this album lies in the listener never exactly know—or even want to know—what you will go next."
Nearly every track ends at a completely distinct place than where it began. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into digital chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts out moody and brooding, with menacing beats, until sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of the album is navigating the line of bold experimentation and broad appeal. It is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable hits. One track sung entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks while it spirals upward. That feat gets repeated by another expansive track that grows and constricts, weaving layered melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns with cultural impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album is pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried treasure that takes patience to fully explore but doesn't seem like hard work. Where some big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish feast at which the guests at the table, some tipsy on holy drink, flutter between discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.
