At first glance, Lux may look more like a challenging university examination rather than the latest popular music album by an artist who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided across four different movements and sung in 13 languages, we have a dizzying orchestral-influenced work exploring feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, often through the lens of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward here, carried by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning composer among an extensive roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone renders the work of other artists look rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual posturing feels almost a miracle, and full praise belonging to the artist. While this is not her first album to blend historical sounds with the present, the stakes are much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. What really raises this fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her height, you find a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, the listener still want to be alongside her for the ride.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
That exuberant energy shines brightly during a stirring Italian ballad about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo crashes down with cartoonish impact. The track then shifts into the frenetic single featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm of this album is that the listener rarely exactly understand—nor wish to know—what you will go next."
Almost every track concludes at a totally distinct point from where it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to collapsing into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts out dark and brooding, with menacing beats, until sudden traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth its jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album is straddling the line of bold innovation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that the album has become the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in the English language swells on a chorus that feels to gather more and more nagging hooks as it spins skyward. That trick is repeated by another expansive track that grows and contracts, weaving multiple melodies like a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a grand level, an ambitious grasp for high Art amid of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that requires patience to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. Where other big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast where the guests around the table, some tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about ancient figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
