At first glance, Lux might appear closer to a difficult academic challenge rather than the latest popular music project from a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Divided across 4 different movements and sung in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking orchestral-influenced opus exploring female mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily change, frequently through the perspective of different women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot heavenward on this record, supported by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a long roll call of collaborators. The pure daring alone renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear rather small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That this album manages to transcend overly academic chin-stroking is nearly miraculous, with complete credit belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time album to alchemize the past and modern styles, its scale feel far greater on Lux, with the balancing act far more dramatic. What truly raises her fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic Björk during her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts apart, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there for the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This playful spirit comes forth brightly on the stirring Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated string surge thuds down with cartoonish force. The track then segues into the wild single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux lies in the listener never exactly know—or even wish to predict—where you will go next."
Almost every track finishes in a completely different point than how it began. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating in digital chaos. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts out dark and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
A key achievement on Lux involves straddling the gap of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is no surprise that it has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song performed entirely in English swells around a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spirals upward. This feat is echoed by another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a storybook figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
Lux represents pop on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its own built-in excess. It is a deep source of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully explore but never feels like a chore. Where other big pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, this record offers a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flit between discussions about ancient figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
