Initially, this album could seem closer to a challenging academic examination rather than a new popular music album from a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop star. Divided across 4 different movements and performed in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and physical change, often through the lens of different female saints. The end of a love affair—a theme handled with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is launched upwards here, buoyed by the lush sound of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone makes the work of contemporary pop stars appear quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in escape overly intellectual posturing feels almost a miracle, with sole praise going to Rosalía. While it's not the first time album to alchemize the past with the present, the ambitions are much greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential sense of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her height, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she's breaking your heart apart, the listener still desire to be right there through the ride.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit shines brightly on the stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Then, everything falls silent, and we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated string surge crashes down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts into the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm of this album is that you never quite know—or even want to know—what it will go to next."
Nearly each song ends at a totally distinct point from how it started. One moment examines the fleeting nature of fame over a featherlight symphony before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Another, a cut echoing her earlier trap-infused work begins out dark and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, until sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art & Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act on the album is navigating the line of bold innovation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language builds around a refrain that seems to collect more and more nagging melodies as it spirals skyward. That trick is repeated on another powerful ballad that expands and constricts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number charms with its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
Lux is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects solipsism for glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its own built-in excess. This is a deep well of buried treasure that takes time to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a lavish banquet where the characters at the table, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about useless partners. It is a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
