At first glance, Lux could seem closer to an arduous academic challenge rather than a new popular music album from a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Divided across 4 distinct parts and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged opus investigating female mystery, religious transcendence, and corporal change, often by way of the lens of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, buoyed by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure daring alone makes the efforts of other artists appear quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux succeeds in avoid overly academic chin-stroking feels nearly a miracle, and sole credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not the first time project to fuse the past with modern styles, the scale are far greater here, with the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. When she's breaking your heart in two, you still desire to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This exuberant energy comes forth brightly on the stirring Italian song about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for several minutes. Suddenly, everything drops silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes in with cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues into the wild single featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm of this album lies in the listener never exactly understand—nor want to predict—what it is going to next."
Almost each song finishes at a totally distinct point from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of fame over a delicate orchestration only to collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut echoing her earlier trap-infused work begins out moody and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, before sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Pop
A key achievement of the album is straddling the line between radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to collect increasingly infectious hooks as it spirals upward. This feat gets repeated on another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of other breakup anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux is pop on a grand level, a hungry reach for high artistry in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its built-in excess. It is an abundant source of buried gems that requires time to completely mine but doesn't feels like a chore. While some big pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish feast at which the characters around it, some tipsy on sacred wine, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
