At first glance, this work might appear more like a difficult academic quiz than a new pop record from an artist whose previous hit featured an international pop icon. Split across four separate parts and sung in 13 tongues, it is a breathtaking symphonic opus investigating feminine mystery, religious ascent, and corporal change, frequently by way of the perspective of different women saints. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—soars skyward here, buoyed by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within an extensive list of collaborators. The pure audacity by itself makes the work of other pop stars seem rather small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in avoid dry intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, and sole praise belonging to the artist. While this is not her first album to blend historical sounds with modern styles, its ambitions are much greater on Lux, with the balancing act far more pronounced. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart apart, the listener nevertheless want to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful energy shines brightly on a stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down with comedic impact. The track immediately shifts into the frenetic single driven by racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm with Lux lies in you never quite know—or even want to know—what it will go to next."
Almost each song ends in a completely different place from how it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of fame over a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off dark and brooding, featuring prowling vocals, until sudden flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act of Lux involves straddling the line of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key charts: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy hits. A song sung entirely in English swells around a chorus that seems to gather increasingly infectious melodies while it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed on a different powerful track that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. This is an abundant well of buried treasure that requires time to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other major releases of 2025 seemed like feasting on scraps, this record offers a lavish banquet at which the guests around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flit from discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
