At first glance, Lux may look more like a difficult university quiz than a new pop project from an artist who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided across four different sections and performed in thirteen tongues, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, frequently through the perspective of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with raw honesty elsewhere—is shot skyward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That Lux succeeds in transcend overly academic posturing is nearly a miracle, with sole credit going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, its scale are much higher on Lux, with the balancing act more precarious. What really elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and engrained drama, is a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener into its tornado. Even when she's breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless want to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle and a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated string surge crashes in with comedic impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild track driven by galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm of Lux is that the listener rarely quite understand—or even want to predict—what you is going to next."
Almost every track finishes in a totally different point than where it began. A track examines the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Another, a song that recalls her previous rhythmic style starts off moody and sinister, with prowling vocals, before fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act on the album involves straddling the gap of bold innovation and broad appeal. It is little surprise that the album has become her first work to break into the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a chorus that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spirals upward. This feat is echoed on a different powerful ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a grand level, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is an abundant well of buried gems that requires patience to completely mine but never feels like a chore. While other big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the characters at the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
