On the surface, this album may look closer to a difficult scholarly examination rather than the latest popular music album by a musician who just had a last single featured an international pop star. Divided across four different parts and sung in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged album investigating feminine mystery, religious ascent, and physical transformation, often by way of the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, carried by the constant presence of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within an extensive list of contributors. The pure audacity by itself makes the work of other artists appear quite small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that this album manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, and complete praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time album to alchemize the past with the present, the stakes are far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more pronounced. What truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener into its tornado. When she is tearing hearts apart, you still want to be right there through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This playful energy comes forth clearly during the stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Then, all the music falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous giggle and a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string surge crashes in like comedic force. The song immediately segues into the frenetic single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm with Lux lies in the listener never exactly know—or even wish to know—what it will go to next."
Nearly each track finishes in a completely distinct place than how it began. A track examines the transient trappings of fame with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's previous rhythmic style starts off moody and brooding, with menacing vocals, until fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its rough edges.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
A key balancing act of Lux involves navigating the line between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major markets: at its core a collection of truly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging melodies as it spirals skyward. That trick is echoed on another expansive ballad that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, eviscerating a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a storybook character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art amid of impending artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that requires patience to completely mine but doesn't feels like hard work. Where some big pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet where the guests at it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.
