At first glance, Lux could seem closer to a challenging scholarly quiz than a new pop record by a musician who just had a last hit featured a global pop icon. Split across 4 different movements and performed in 13 languages, this is a head-spinning symphonic opus exploring feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often via the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with raw honesty elsewhere—soars upwards here, supported by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long list of collaborators. The pure daring alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists appear rather modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, and full credit going to Rosalía. While this is not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and the present, the ambitions are far higher here, with the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that truly raises her fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, is a core sense of fun. Much like the iconic artist at her height, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she is tearing your heart in two, you still desire to stay right there through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
This playful spirit comes forth clearly on the stirring Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge crashes in like cartoonish force. The song immediately segues into the frenetic track featuring racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic of this album is that you never exactly understand—or even wish to know—where you will go to next."
Nearly each song finishes in a totally different place from how it started. A track examines the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony before disintegrating in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic style starts off dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, before fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Between Art and Pop
Another crucial achievement of Lux is straddling the gap of radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that it has achieved the artist's first work to crack the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed primarily in the English language swells around a chorus that feels to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spirals upward. That feat gets repeated by a different expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares with cultural honesty of other breakup songs, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Across the album, the singing have a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album is pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism for glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its own built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried gems that takes time to completely mine but never seem like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, this record offers a sumptuous feast at which the characters at the table, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flutter between conversations about historical saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
